NMI Crime Stoppers wins int’l media award

The NMI Crime Stoppers program has won the 2011 Crime Stoppers International Media Award, the second consecutive year the CNMI program has won this award.

The 2011 Media Award for Communities Less that 75,000 Award was presented at the Crime Stoppers International Training Conference in Montego Bay, Jamaica. It was for the 30-second commercial produced by Marianas High School students Jessie Savellano, Jessica Estrata, Kevin Jardinero, Justin Tenorio, and Kevin Razon and broadcasted by MCV.

Submitted to the NMI Crime Stoppers program in 2010, this playful, musical piece showed some amusing acting accompanied by a Crime Stoppers song. But even with a softer delivery, the message is clear: Report crime anonymously, help law enforcement keep our island safe, and get a reward.

Jan Van Hooten, Crime Stoppers International Awards Committee chair, expressed the committee’s view: “We obviously get a lot of serious video entries for a very serious topic, but this was an upbeat, refreshing approach that still delivered the important Crime Stoppers message.”

Over a dozen video commercials were submitted to the local Crime Stoppers Program and the board of directors chose to send this particular video to compete against the other Crime Stoppers programs around the world.

Jim Arenovski, regional director-Western Pacific Crime Stoppers International, will present the award to the local Crime Stoppers program at the group’s monthly board meeting later this week.

“This is the second international award for the NMI program and such an award allows our small region to be recognized internationally. It is a credit to the local volunteer board of directors that they continue to promote and keep the program active. We at Crime Stoppers International look forward to more submissions from the Western Pacific programs,” said Arenovski.

Sean Frink, Chairman of the local NMI Crime Stoppers, said, “It is the NMI Crime Stoppers board’s mission to continue to promote our tips lines at 234-7272 and website www.nmicrimestoppers.com.”

Crime Stoppers offers the public a way to report information crimes while remaining anonymous and get an award if an arrest is made. The NMI program was established in 1989.

“Because of the Crime Stoppers program, the public has provided tips to Crime Stoppers that have helped law enforcement put a number of people behind bars that otherwise would still be on the loose,” Frink said. “We urge all residents in the NMI to key an eye and ear out for suspicious activities in their villages and call the police or Crime Stoppers if they see something wrong. We all have a duty to help [the police] in keeping our villages safe from criminals.” [B][I](Crime Stoppers)[/I][/B]