‘A humble man’: Founder of Crime Stoppers dies at 78

When Greg MacAleese was an Albuquerque police officer in the early 1970s, he said he saw many crimes go unsolved because either they weren’t being reported or “no one seemed willing to provide information.”

In 1976, MacAleese decided it was time for a change and he launched Crime Stoppers, an anonymous tip hotline that has aided in solving investigations across the world.

“He embodied the definition of a good cop,” said Debbi Wersonick, MacAleese’s former Albuquerque Police Department mentee and friend, in a Facebook message. “His professional manner and demeanor exemplified what a police officer should be. His dedication and compassion to/for the people of Albuquerque (and later nationally/globally) was the backbone of the Crime Stoppers program.”

MacAleese died Nov. 3 of complications from a heart attack. He was 78.

MacAleese was born in Picton, Ontario, Canada, on Jan. 23, 1947, and moved to Albuquerque after his father was transferred to Kirtland Air Force Base to serve as a Canadian liaison officer. He attended Sandia High School and the University of New Mexico, where he pitched for the Lobos before becoming an Associated Press sports writer.

“While serving with The Associated Press in Albuquerque, Greg realized the importance of getting information about crime out to the media so they are the extra eyes and ears of the police department,” said Cal Millar, who co-wrote “Crime Stoppers: The Inside Story” with MacAleese.

Crime Stoppers USA Director of Legal Services Richard Carter said while MacAleese was at the AP he heard about an opening with APD. “So he went there and (became) a real great patrol officer,” Carter said.

MacAleese wrote in a Crime Stoppers manual that when he joined the force in 1973, morale in the police department was “abysmally low.”

“Many crimes were going unsolved because no one seemed willing to provide information on the identity of the offenders,” he wrote. “And a large number of crimes were not being reported by victims, who felt that it was an exercise in futility to do so.

“It was not surprising, then, that crime continued to flourish. Drastic steps were needed to turn the public’s attitude around and renew the police department’s communications with its citizenry.”

In September 1976, MacAleese launched the Crime Stoppers program.

“Somewhere out there is the information we need to solve a number of major crimes,” he said in an interview with The Albuquerque Tribune. “Through Crime Stoppers, we’re willing to pay for that information, and the persons who supply it don’t even have to give their names.”

MacAleese added, “No criminal is ever going to feel safe while Crime Stoppers is in operation. No criminal will be sure who’s going to turn him in, because whoever does turn him in will have nothing to fear.”

Local media outlets offered their support for the program, including the Tribune, which pledged that Crime Stoppers would have its “Crime of the Week” featured on the front page every Monday afternoon.

In addition, MacAleese wrote a brief program for television recreating crimes like the 1976 fatal shooting of Michael Carmen, 20, who was gunned down during a gas station robbery in the 300 block of Wyoming NE.

“There’s psychology behind these shows,” MacAleese said in a Parade magazine article that was published in the Oct. 2, 1977, Journal. “People are more likely to react to visual treatment. It tends to jolt their memories, to sharpen a sense of awareness of something they know about somebody.”

Crime Stoppers was “long before social media,” Wersonick said.

“It was such an innovative, yet simple concept — select unsolved crimes, feature them on local television news and in the newspaper, and offer a modest reward (sometimes as little as $25) for vital information,” she said.

MacAleese left Albuquerque to head up the Crime Stoppers in New Mexico and help set up programs across North America, Millar said.

As Crime Stoppers spread, MacAleese and the program received accolades. In 1977, for example, he was named National Police Officer of the Year by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

“I knew Greg as a humble man who didn’t really like the attention that came to him as a result of Crime Stoppers,” Millar said. “However, he worked hard to promote the concept and traveled worldwide to help people in communities work with police to set up programs.”

When MacAleese retired, he moved to the Philippines, where he met his future wife, Maylene MacAleese, and lived out the rest of his life, Millar said.

MacAleese is survived by his wife, Maylene MacAleese, and sons, Gregory James MacAleese and Brian Timothy MacAleese.