Crime Stoppers for Manila

Greg MacAleese, founder of the highly successful citizen-police Crime Stoppers Program who is here on Saipan for a two-day visit, is bound for the Philippines to introduce the program in the country.

In an interview with [I]Saipan Tribune[/I] yesterday, MacAleese, 59, said he will proceed to Manila after he completes the two-day training program for the Crime Stoppers’ call takers in Guam next week.

MacAleese said he will be meeting with some officials of the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation to discuss plans to establish the Crime Stoppers Program.

“The whole idea is to acquaint them of the program, give them an orientation, essentially with the idea that they are going to get the program started there,” the Crime Stoppers Program founder explained.

MacAleese said he will be bringing some additional materials that he will provide the Philippine police to assist them in putting up the program.

He said the Philippine police had representatives at different Crime Stoppers training programs, but that there are still some issues that they need to resolve in order to begin the project.

“It’s just a brief meeting…like to ensure that they have the documents that they need to get started,” he said.

It will be MacAleese’s first trip to the Philippines and that he is looking forward to it.

“I’m really hopeful that the Crime Stoppers Program is going to start in Manila,” he said, adding that he is confident that just like in 24 countries, it will also be successful there.

As a violent crimes detective with the Albuquerque Police Department in New Mexico in 1976, MacAleese designed Crime Stoppers after he observed that a lack of public involvement was a major reason for the city’s exceptionally high crime rate.

Crime Stoppers became an instant success. In its first year of operation, 298 major cases were solved through tips from the citizens. Today there are more than 1,500 local Crime Stoppers in 24 countries around the world.

In 1977, MacAleese was chosen as the National Police Officer of the Year by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. In 1984, the [I]Esquire[/I] magazine selected him as one of 200 people under the age of 40 who had made a significant difference in America.