by Pat Ritter
couldn’t believe my luck. This opportunity only came along once in a lifetime. Detective Greg MacAleese commenced the programme in America. Victoria and New South Wales Police Departments already adopted the programme, Queensland next.
Monday morning I found Crimestoppers to be ‘my baby’. I had total control over conception and birth. In less than twenty-four hours I presented a proposal to The Minister of Police with a start and launch date.
Victorian police established their programme in two years whilst New South Wales eighteen months. I proposed six months. Whilst the Minister agreed to this period, his demeanour showed differently. ‘I haven’t got six months – I want it up and running in three weeks.’ My jaw almost hit the floor.
I took the bit between my teeth and said, ‘if you cut the red tape and leave me to do my work, I promise to do my best.’
‘Don’t worry about ‘red tape’, I’ll send a message to The Commissioner to give you what you need.’
True to his word my ‘wish list’ was complete and I was given full co-operation with no interruptions. Staff of six including myself completed the Crimestoppers team. To keep the process simple each caller received a unique identification number. Information recorded onto a database afterwards discriminated to the relevant police district for investigation.
In three weeks, true to my word, Crimestoppers was officially launched at Queensland Police Headquarters. When the Minister officially launched Crimestoppers I felt a magic moment. We’d done it!
Television programme ‘Australian Most Wanted’ advertised crime and asked viewers to contact Crimestoppers Queensland to help the fight against crime in their community. My baby grew from a small idea to twenty-four year old adult and still growing.
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