Crime Stoppers was the brain child of Canadian born Greg MacAleese, a Detective with the Albuquerque Police Department, New Mexico in 1976. MacAleese had run out of leads in a homicide investigation in which a young gas station attendant was robbed then murdered. For no other apparent reason then to eliminate him as a witness the suspects blasted him twice with a sawed off shot gun prior to fleeing the scene. Since the gas station was located on a busy street corner and the murder took place during dusk hours, MacAleese decided to appeal to the public for assistance. He was aware that general apathy and fear of reprisal were two major prohibitions mitigating against the public coming forth with information concerning the crime.
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By providing information that Crime Stoppers will share with law enforcement agencies, you are providing an important and valuable public service. We understand that disclosure of your identity might put you at risk. We do everything we can to protect your anonymity. However, that anonymity may be open to challenge in the following situations:
• A call to Crime Stoppers made with the intention of “furthering criminal activity or interfering with the administration of justice”. A party who is guilty of a crime cannot use Crime Stoppers to try to divert the blame onto someone else. Crime Stoppers cannot be used to try to “frame” an innocent person.
• There is evidence that disclosure of some or all of a tip is necessary to establish someone’s innocence.
• A tipster having received the benefit of full legal advice may, for his or her own reasons, elect to waive the privilege.
For a fuller explanation of these principles, help us to help you by reading and understanding the “Tipster Information” on the Canadian Crime Stoppers website.