In 1947, Chester Gould introduced Crime Stoppers (originally spelled as two words) in the Dick Tracy comic strip.
In the strip, Junior, Dick Tracy’s adopted son, and three of his friends, hurriedly entered police headquarters anxious to talk to Tracy. Junior handed him a piece of paper on which he had drawn a shield inscribed with the words “Crime Stoppers” saying, “We’re going to call ourselves Crime Stoppers.” This was the beginning of a well-recognized term today.
Junior and his friends told Tracy they felt they could do a lot of good helping kids who might go wrong before they got started, by finding odd jobs for them to do after school and to be friends with them. Junior could see that idleness meant trouble for a lot of kids. Their idea was to be sort of a detective club of helping hands.
One boy they had in mind in the story, Bronk, was already in trouble. He had stolen a bike and was getting involved with the criminal element.
So impressed was Tracy with the idea that he took Junior and his friends into the police crime laboratory and showed them where many clues were discovered through scientific crime detection, or, forensics. He even offered to meet with them in the lab once a week to show them how some of this equipment was used, and above all, to make sure they learned how to be keen observers.
These enthusiastic “Crime Stoppers” learned well and played an important part in aiding the police in a number of stories in the strip. They also befriended Bronk, helped him turn his life around, and he eventually became a “Crime Stopper”.
The same year “Crime Stoppers” appeared in the Dick Tracy strip, something was happening in Chester Gould’s hometown, Woodstock, Illinois. This quiet little farm town, population 7,000 in 1947, and situated sixty miles northwest of Chicago, had one police car. The Town Square was foot-patrolled by policemen. However, a stranger would think twice about confronting Woodstock’s 400 pound Police Chief, Emery “Tiny” Hansman, who was an impressive man in stature, and who could ride a motorcycle with the greatest agility. He was also a man who cared about Woodstock’s youth.
