‘It pays to give tips to Crime Stoppers’

Crime Stoppers CNMI coordinator Jason Tarkong gives a presentation about the Crime Stoppers during the Soroptimist International of Northern Mariana Islands quarterly program meeting at the Giovanni’s Restaurant in Hyatt Regency Saipan last Thursday. (Erwin Encinares)

Crime Stoppers coordinator Jason Tarkong talked about stopping crimes and the added rewards in assisting police during the Soroptimist International of Northern Mariana Islands’ quarterly program meeting Thursday at Giovanni’s Restaurant at the Hyatt Regency Saipan.

Tarkong started with a brief history of Crime Stoppers and what it consists of.

“Crime Stoppers is an independent non-profit organization consisting of a partnership between the police, the media, and the community,” said Tarkong.

He said Gregory Macaleese, a detective from Albaquerque, was investigating a crime back in the 1970s. While investigating a robbery of a gas station, Tarkong said Macaleese came up with the idea of getting the media involved to get the information out and creating an anonymous line and if the tip led to an arrest, the tipster gets paid.

“It was a success. Within 24 hours he got a tip and there was a witness that remembered seeing a car matching the certain description on the paper and knew exactly where the owner of the car lived. They also solved three burglaries after that.”

Tarkong shared that not many people would want to get involved with crimes for fear of getting dragged into it. “You can call the Crime Stoppers hotline or you could go on the website, www.crimestoppers.net in the safety and privacy of your own home,” he said.

Tarkong shared that every bit of information is valuable. “There is no such thing as bad information.”

Tarkong said he deals with many tips such as those connected to drugs, tobacco, firearms, burglary, theft, stolen power, trash, murders, and even domestic violence.

He expressed that criminals can be everyday people, even those who are the least expected.

“He could be your neighbor. He could be cleaning your yard. He could be outside cutting your grass. As a father of a beautiful 17-year old, I will be darned to let anybody touch her.”

Tarkong is happy to inform the public about anything involving the safety and welfare of the community.

“I enjoy this; I enjoy educating the public. I believe I have a purpose in life and I believe that one of them is to educate the public about Crime Stoppers and it’s availability and what it could do,” he said.

Tarkong is also open to tips of any kind. “We’ll take any type of tips, but majority of them are narcotics, burglaries, and sexual assault cases, especially of minors.”

Crime Stoppers is a 24-hour system that enables people to report crimes or give tips anonymously, and if the tipper has aided in an arrest, the tipper is rewarded with money of up to $1,000, depending on the crime.

To contact the Crime Stoppers, you can call the Crime Stoppers hotline 234-PARA (7272) or go to their website nmicrimestoppers.net provide any information on crimes.