Central Alabama CrimeStoppers Celebrates 10 Years
CrimeStopper Founder, Greg MacAleese, To Visit Montgomery
Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Honored
 (May
1, 2007) -- A small group of business leaders, law enforcement officers,
media, and concerned citizens held their first official meeting for
Montgomery Area CrimeStoppers (now known as Central Alabama CrimeStoppers).
Ten years to the date, May 7, 2007, a big celebration is going to be held to
commemorate 10 years of taking criminals off the streets of Central Alabama.
Central Alabama CrimeStoppers is hosting a 10th Anniversary Celebration
Luncheon at Embassy Suites in Montgomery from 11:30AM-1PM. Current and past
board members will be attending as well as members of local law enforcement
agencies and other community leaders. Since 1997, anonymous tipsters to
CrimeStoppers hotline have solved 942 cases and helped capture almost 500
wanted criminals. CrimeStoppers has paid $36,780 in reward money. Former
WSFA News Anchor and Reporter Beth Jett will be the Master of Ceremonies and
CrimeStoppers Founder, Greg MacAleese, will be the keynote speaker.
Working as a violent crimes detective with the Albuquerque Police
Department in 1976, MacAleese was convinced that a lack of public
involvement was a major reason for the city's exceptionally high crime rate.
He identified two major reasons why most citizens did not want to get
involved in fighting crime - fear and apathy. He designed CrimeStoppers to
specifically attack these two problems. An anonymous tip line helped ease
people's fear of retaliation and a reward program helped to overcome apathy.
MacAleese wanted to make his program, which he named CrimeStoppers, to be
very high profile so he asked for the media to profile unsolved cases. The
first "crime of the week" was the killing of a young gas station attendant
and it was solved within 48 hours after the reenactment was shown on
television. In the first year of operation 298 major cases were solved
through calls from citizens. CrimeStoppers would later be used as a model
for "America's Most Wanted" and "Unsolved Mysteries". Currently, MacAleese
travels the world promoting CrimeStopper programs. He has also produced a
number of television specials about crime. He is a very active inventor and
holds four patents on technologies designed for law enforcement and
military.
Jett was the driving force behind starting Montgomery CrimeStoppers. In
1997, she had recently moved from Huntsville and was inspired by their
CrimeStopper program. With WSFA backing her, she gathered some community
leaders and law enforcement officers and they formed the non profit
organization that has taken hundreds of criminals off the streets in the
tri-county area, empowering citizens to take an active role in stopping
crime. WSFA TV has aired a "Crime of the Week" for the last decade.
At the luncheon, Central Alabama CrimeStoppers will recognize Cpl. Guy
Naquin of Montgomery Police Department as the 2006 CrimeStopper Law
Enforcement Officer of the Year. Cpl. Naquin has been employed with MPD for
12 years and has been with the Robbery/Homicide Bureau for 10 years. Cpl.
Naquin has worked numerous death investigations, serious shootings, and
several homicides. On September 28, 2006, Police Officer Keith Houts was
shot multiple times during a traffic stop. Officer Houts later died as a
result of his injuries. Cpl. Naquin was assigned case agent in this offense.
He was able to identify the suspect in a matter of hours and signed warrants
on Mario Woodward. Woodward was taken into custody in Atlanta, Georgia
several hours later. Due to Cpl. Naquin's hard work and relentless pursuit
of the suspect a killer is off the streets. Other Law Enforcement Officers
who were nominated for the 2006 CrimeStopper Law Enforcement Officer of the
Year are: Deputy Jason Chambers, Elmore County Sheriff's Office; Cpl. Chris
Deputy, Wetumpka Police Department; Sgt. Gary Graves, Prattville Police
Department; Deputy Stan Hinson, Elmore County Sheriff's Office; Deputy Larry
McDuffie, Autauga County Sheriff's Office; Cpl. Johnny Russell, Millbrook
Police Department; Deputy Ricky Thompson, Montgomery County Sheriff's
Office.
Also honored during the luncheon will be Bellingrath Jr. High School for
their outstanding efforts in keeping their school free from crime.
Bellingrath was the first school in Montgomery to implement a Youth Patrol.
Also receiving an award will be founding members Ty Fondren, Beth Jett,
Ellen Brooks and WSFA TV. For more information about the 10th Anniversary
Luncheon Celebration please contact Susan Moss at 334-272-7463. |
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