Crime Stoppers: The Beginning

On a Friday night in July 1976, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Michael Carmen, a young student of the University of New Mexico was working a second shift for a friend at a local gas station when two men robbed the station and without provocation gunned down Carmen with a shotgun. Carmen died of his injuries without the opportunity to speak to detectives about his assailants.

Detective Greg MacAleese of the Albuquerque, New Mexico Police Department worked non-stop to bring Carmen’s killers to justice, and promised Carmen’s fiancé he would find the suspects responsible. But after six weeks of intense investigation, Detective MacAleese had not gotten any closer to solving his case. What was needed was for someone to come forward or call with information which would freshen the investigation.

Detective MacAleese approached the local television station, KOAT with the idea of creating and reenacting the crime to be broadcast as part of the news to possibly trigger the memory of a potential eyewitness who may have seen something relating to the crime.

On September 8, 1976, the broadcast was aired and the next morning a tip came in which reopened the investigation and not only solved the murder of Carmen, but connected the suspects with other crimes in the area. As a result of this tragedy and the persistence of Detective MacAleese, Albuquerque Metro Crime Stoppers was born.

Today there are over 1200 Crime Stoppers throughout the world including Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Bahamas, West Indies, Germany and other countries. Globally, Crime Stoppers has recovered over 3 billion dollars worth of stolen property and narcotics and boasts of a 95% conviction rate on cases solved by Crime Stoppers tips.

In 1982, the Shreveport Police Department started the first Crime Stoppers program in the area and beginning in 2006 Crime Stoppers of Shreveport/Caddo Parish will be responsible for assisting all law enforcement agencies within Caddo Parish. In 2005, tips received through Crime Stoppers resulted in 49% of suspects being arrested.