Crime Stoppers is a community program that helps stop crime in it's tracks. The program is based on the simple principle that for every crime committed someone other than the criminal has information that would solve it. By offering cash rewards and guaranteed anonymity, Crime Stoppers encourages local citizens to provide clues that can be vital in the solution of a crime.

Crime Stoppers was the brain child of Canadian born Greg MacAleese, a detective with the Albuquerque Police Department, New Mexico in 1976. Det. MacAleese had run out of leads in a homicide investigation of a young gas station attendant, who had been robbed & murdered. For no other apparent reason than to eliminate the attendant as a witness, the suspects blasted him twice with a sawed-off shot gun prior to fleeing the scene. As the gas station was located on a busy street corner and the murder took place during dusk hours, Det. MacAleese appealed to the public for assistance. He was aware that general apathy and fear of reprisal are two major prohibiting factors in garnering public support to solve crimes.

Det. MacAleese solicited the assistance of the local cable television company and produced a staged re-enactment on location, which was broadcast in the Albuquerque area over the next 24-hour period. He established a tips line at his office to receive calls from anyone willing to provide information concerning the homicide, and Det. MacAleese guaranteed anonymity. The guarantee of anonymity was intended to overcome the fear of retribution and MacAleese offered a $300.00 cash reward from his own pocket to overcome apathy.

Within twelve hours of broadcasting the re-enactment, MacAleese received several calls. The case was solved as a direct result of a tipster who observed a suspect vehicle fleeing the gas station parking lot at a high rate of speed.

The coalition between the media and the police resulted in the first Crime Stoppers program being spawned. Det. MacAleese's experience lead him to believe the public could play a role assisting crime solutions so he drafted several prominent citizens to serve as a Board of Directors and provide non-police governance for the new, fledgling crime fighting organization.

Partnerships of community, media and police to foster solutions under the auspices of "Crime Stoppers" have spread rapidly, since forming 850 programs around the world. There are currently 81 chapters successfully operating in Canada, forty of which are in Ontario.

The concept of forming the Pembroke/Renfrew County Crime Stoppers Program began in 1989. Legal incorporation and bylaws were completed in 1990. Crime Stoppers Associations are not police programs, although they enthusiastically supported by Police Services across Ontario, across Canada and Internationally. The Pembroke/Renfrew County Crime Stoppers Program is a public program governed by a Board of Directors comprised of 16 local citizens who live in the greater Pembroke area and throughout the County of Renfrew.

The Boards' responsibility is to promote the Crime Stoppers' program through public awareness and understanding. This provides the basis for raising funds through donations and encouraging attendance at fund raising events. The board is also responsible for developing policies and approving rewards to "Tipsters". The Board of Directors of the Pembroke/Renfrew County Crime Stoppers Program works closely with the Ontario Provincial Police Upper Ottawa Valley Detachment, the Pembroke Police Service, the Deep River Police Service, the Ontario Provincial Police Killaloe Detachment, Ontario Provincial Police Arnprior Detachment, Ontario Provincial Police Renfrew Detachment, the CFB Petawawa Military Police and the Ministry of Natural Resources Wildlife Conservation Authority and the Petawawa Branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCS).

Crime Stoppers profiles crimes by using the news media as a vehicle to get the message out to the public. Often weekly, a Crime Stoppers "release" appears in newspapers, on radio, public and cable television. The objective is to "blitz" the public with crime related information while seeking public support and assistance. The media donate their time, space and professional help Without which, it would be very difficult to share our ongoing, proven success.