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Former Crimestoppers chair gets posthumous award
Jim Arenovski, regional director of Crimestoppers, together with other Crimestoppers board members, present Matt Smith with the “President’s Global Award” that Crimestoppers International awarded his late wife, former Crimestoppers chair Christina C. Smith, at a recent conference in Cape Town, South Africa.
(Dennis B. Chan)
During her time with the program since 2009, Smith helped devise a contest to have high school students shoot commercials showing the Crimestoppers theme and message. She also led a poster contest that churned out “dozens of beautiful posters,” according to Jim Arenovski, regional director of Crimestoppers.
“None of us had that creativity to see that happen, and Christina made that happen. The first time we did these video contests, we won an international media award for ‘Crime of the Week,’” Arenovski said.
Matt Smith spoke of the work his wife left behind. Christina lost her fight to cancer last year.
“I know Christina really loved Crimestoppers. When Jim told me about the award last night, it brought tears to my eyes. Christina loved this island, loved the people. I remember my son did one himself,” he said.
The local Crimestoppers program was also awarded the “Best Website Award” and “Best Crime of the Week” by Crimestoppers International at their recent conference in Cape Town, South Africa.
Out seven awards submitted this year, the NMI won two awards, according to Arenovski. The local program won best website for populations zero to 300,000. Ricky Sanchez was given the award for his design of www.nmicrimstoppers.net.
The best radio crime of the week was given to Sorensen Media Group for populations zero to 300,000.
“There’s a lot of competition in these categories. This is a testament to the board of directors and the NMI Crimestoppers for their hard work and effort for getting the public, police, and media involved in preventing crime in the NMI,” Arenovski said.
In other news, Crimestoppers now has a “tip-submit application” app for iPhone or Android. It can be downloaded on Google Play or the Apple Store.
“It allows you to send tips into Crimestoppers completely anonymously. It’s just like being on the Web or being on the phone. It allows you take a picture. It allows you to give information. It’s going to be a powerful new tool for law enforcement in the CNMI,” Arenovski said.
He clarified, though, that the app should be used for information on crime that is going to happen or “after-the-fact,” and urged the public to call 911 if they ever witness a crime unfold.
