from today's paper...
Thirty years ago, they called him "Cecil B. De" MacAleese.
Fellow detectives thought Albuquerque, N.M., homicide Det. Greg MacAleese had a screwy idea, recreating a crime on television in a bid to solicit anonymous tips for a $1,000 reward.
Maybe the desert sun had hit the transplanted Canadian a little too hard.
That was Crime Stoppers Case No. 1, in 1976. It did generate a tip -- one that helped solve a brutal murder within 72 hours after six weeks of flat-footing the pavement to nowhere. As a bonus, it also produced a tip to close a case of gang rape, which had remained unsolved for 18 months.
Out of those cases emerged the template for Crime Stoppers, a non-profit organization funded by donations, one that ensures strict anonymity, where tipsters are given numerical aliases and a voluntary civilian board oversees operations.
MacAleese's simple idea of anonymous tips has become a major component in criminal investigations far and wide. Last year, more than a million cases were solved through Crime Stoppers worldwide.
"To continue something over this period of time is a hell of a tribute, and it continues to work and it works effectively," he said. "I think the structure of the program is important."
Crime Stoppers, at heart, is a community-based program, MacAleese said.
He didn't realize it at the time, but his idea filled a need, allowing people who didn't want to be witnesses but still wanted to pass on information -- and get a reward.
MADE A PROMISE
In 1976, MacAleese had promised the mother of Michael Carman that he'd solve the university student's murder. The 19-year-old victim, who worked part-time at a gas station, complied with the demands of two robbers, but he was practically cut in two by the blast of a double-barrelled, 20-gauge shotgun. The killers fled with $43 and four cartons of cigarettes.
After six weeks, MacAleese came up with the idea of re-enacting the crime on a KOAT-TV Albuquerque newscast to see whether it would generate tips.
It took some arguing to persuade police brass. When he reminded them that the city's high crime rate was making the department look bad, they gave him the green light.
And it was a light that helped resolve the murder, a gang rape and, soon after, nailed a serial rapist.
After that, MacAleese couldn't keep other detectives away from his door, asking that their unsolved cases be re-enacted.
And the kid from Picton who moved to the U.S. with his Royal Canadian Air Force dad and became a cop because newspapering at Associated Press was too stressful is still delighted
Fellow detectives thought Albuquerque, N.M., homicide Det. Greg MacAleese had a screwy idea, recreating a crime on television in a bid to solicit anonymous tips for a $1,000 reward.
Maybe the desert sun had hit the transplanted Canadian a little too hard.
That was Crime Stoppers Case No. 1, in 1976. It did generate a tip -- one that helped solve a brutal murder within 72 hours after six weeks of flat-footing the pavement to nowhere. As a bonus, it also produced a tip to close a case of gang rape, which had remained unsolved for 18 months.
Out of those cases emerged the template for Crime Stoppers, a non-profit organization funded by donations, one that ensures strict anonymity, where tipsters are given numerical aliases and a voluntary civilian board oversees operations.
MacAleese's simple idea of anonymous tips has become a major component in criminal investigations far and wide. Last year, more than a million cases were solved through Crime Stoppers worldwide.
"To continue something over this period of time is a hell of a tribute, and it continues to work and it works effectively," he said. "I think the structure of the program is important."
Crime Stoppers, at heart, is a community-based program, MacAleese said.
He didn't realize it at the time, but his idea filled a need, allowing people who didn't want to be witnesses but still wanted to pass on information -- and get a reward.
MADE A PROMISE
In 1976, MacAleese had promised the mother of Michael Carman that he'd solve the university student's murder. The 19-year-old victim, who worked part-time at a gas station, complied with the demands of two robbers, but he was practically cut in two by the blast of a double-barrelled, 20-gauge shotgun. The killers fled with $43 and four cartons of cigarettes.
After six weeks, MacAleese came up with the idea of re-enacting the crime on a KOAT-TV Albuquerque newscast to see whether it would generate tips.
It took some arguing to persuade police brass. When he reminded them that the city's high crime rate was making the department look bad, they gave him the green light.
And it was a light that helped resolve the murder, a gang rape and, soon after, nailed a serial rapist.
After that, MacAleese couldn't keep other detectives away from his door, asking that their unsolved cases be re-enacted.
And the kid from Picton who moved to the U.S. with his Royal Canadian Air Force dad and became a cop because newspapering at Associated Press was too stressful is still delighted