Bøger af Cal Millar

In 1976, Detective Greg MacAleese came up with a concept to combat crime. He called the program Crime Stoppers and today it is cited along with fingerprinting and DNA as the top three innovations in modern day policing. The Albuquerque Police Department, which embraced the idea and brought it to fruition, continues to hail Crime Stoppers as the most successful anti-crime program in the history of law enforcement. For MacAleese, who was born in Canada but spent his high school and college years in the United States, Crime Stoppers was like a roller coaster ride, and the book reveals a story, that until now hasn't been told. Assigned as an investigator to the Violent Crimes Unit only three years after becoming a police officer, MacAleese was in a hospital emergency room watching the life ebb from a 20-year-old victim who was callously shot during a robbery at a gas station. A short time later he promised the mother of Michael Carmen that he would solve the slaying and it was that vow which became the catalyst to launch Crime Stoppers. From an idea to curb lawlessness in what at the time was one of the most crime-ridden and dangerous cities in the United States, Crime Stoppers has grown to a worldwide network of more than 1,600 programs. Accumulatively since 1976, Crime Stoppers has solved 1.5 million crimes, seized $10 billion in illicit drugs and recovered more than $2 billion in stolen property. Most people believe Crime Stoppers is run by law enforcement, but this book explains how programs in various cities are charitable organizations with volunteer boards and operate in partnership with the police, the media and the community.

Highlighted in this book are more than 250 unsolved murder cases from across North America with rewards totalling some $5.5 million. Investigators are hoping people will have information that will help solve some of these cases which are on the files of police agencies and Crime Stoppers units in the United States and Canada. These victims and their families require justice and are hoping those who know who is responsible will come forward and identify the killers.

This book, the second in a series of Crime Stoppers appeals, focuses on the plight of missing people and their families. There are rewards totaling almost $3 million for the more than 350 randomly selected cases from across North America in this book. Some of those who vanished were obviously abducted while others may have made a conscious decision to deliberately leave. It's also likely that some missing individuals were targeted for murder while some are possibly the victims of human trafficking gangs. Families of missing people are left with a void and many unanswered questions and hopefully some of those reading this book will have information that they can provide to law enforcement agencies or Crime Stoppers that will help reunite the missing with their loved ones. Among the cases in this book is a newborn who was stolen from a Florida hospital; a mother who disappeared while working as an escort in a quiet Colorado community; a man in Stanton County, Kansas who vanished after going to his ex-girlfriend's home to pick up his five-year-old son; a Canadian businesswoman who went missing while vacationing in Hong Kong and the millionaire granddaughter of motion picture legend Tyrone Power, who hasn't been seen since moving into a New Orleans flop-house while trying to experience what it was like to be poor. This book gives a face to people who are missing and the author hopes details of the cases will help people recall information that will assist investigators to find some of these individuals.

This book takes a critical look at school shootings across North America and around the world and calls for a national dialogue to come up with recommendations to improve safety and security in schools and to protect students in classrooms. From Newtown to Littleton and from Virginia Tech to Northern Illinois University, the book looks at the shootings and the impact on the various communities. In addition to chronicling numerous shooting rampages, the chapters examine the response of emergency workers, while detailing what must be done to comfort grieving families. From the reaction of residents to the initial role of law enforcement and the investigation process, the book gives insight into the how politicians, the clergy, victim assistance advocates, government agencies and community volunteers have responsibility to comfort those who are suffering and help them through the healing process. Victims of the different tragedies are memorialized; details of their funerals are highlighted, along with tributes at memorial services and words of comfort from local pastors to world leaders, as well as messages of hope from President Barack Obama and former Presidents William Clinton and George W. Bush. This book will be of interest to emergency planners, teachers, religious leaders, law enforcement officers and anyone interested in learning how school shooting situations have been managed and research that has been conducted at various levels. Although school shootings are rare, they can happen anywhere and the impact is devastating. The book suggests an open and wide ranging discussion is necessary to analyze the factors contributing to this type of violence in an effort to identify strategies that will effectively curb these targeted attacks. It is obvious there are no quick fixes, so everyone who can provide input must join the dialogue and hopefully an international symposium will be organized to find solutions that will keep our kids safe in their schools.