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GREENSBORO — Sandy Tew busied herself Tuesday with boxing up mementos she has collected during 31 years at the Greensboro Police Department: pictures of colleagues, leadership plaques and a doll of King Julien, the animated character from DreamWorks ’ “Madagascar.”

Tew, the coordinator of the department’s Crime Stoppers program, started packing last week.

“Not early enough,” said Tew’s longtime office buddy, Julia Styers.

Tew retires today, leaving behind 18 years of work as head of the nationally recognized program.

“It’s probably the best job in the department,” she said, “and I really have loved it, and I’m going to miss it a lot.”

Tew has managed the 24-hour call line that gathers crime tips from area residents and has recruited members for the program’s civilian board. She has raised money and awareness for the program and has taught others across North Carolina and the Southeast how to start and maintain their own programs.

“It’s like one of the most basic community policing programs,” she said. “Community policing means you’re teaching the community how to police itself. By engaging the community in calling and giving information on crime that has happened, you clear the cases.”

Since the program’s beginning in 1981, it has received more than 26,000 calls. Those calls have led to 9,900 arrests and 6,743 cases cleared. More than $16.6 million worth of drugs and stolen property have been recovered.

Police Chief Tim Bellamy said Tew’s position is critical to the department.

“It’s one that calls for a lot of confidentiality,” Bellamy said. “Since she’s been in that role, the program has never been compromised. It’s never been under any scrutiny, and we have steadily increased funding.”

Tew could have retired last year, but she decided to stay while the department went through a hiring freeze.

Now she said it’s time to move on. At 59, she wants to spend more time with her grandchildren and church organizations, and she wants to travel.

Time off also will allow her to read to children at a Head Start program near her home in Jamestown.

Tew began working at the police department in July 1978 and helped build the Crime Stoppers unit from its inception.

She was promoted to coordinator in 1991, when there were just 13 programs in North Carolina; there are 92 now.

“I knew as soon as I started doing it ... that was the thing for me,” she said. “I think I really do have a passion for it. That’s what you’ve got to have to do a good job at anything.

“You gotta really love it. And I do.”

Tew has received several awards for her leadership, the most prestigious being the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in December 2008. That is the highest award presented by the governor’s office to individuals who have shown extraordinary service to the state.

Tew is nearly as reluctant to speak about herself as the anonymous callers who provide tips.

“That’s her personality. That’s one of the big things about her,” Assistant Chief Dwight Crotts said.

“She really pushes the program, and even though she’s the face of it, she doesn’t want that,” Crotts said. “She wants to make sure the program is out front, which is the way it should be.”

Her colleagues, however, have no qualms praising her work.

Capt. Janice Rogers, head of the Criminal Investigations Division, presented Tew with the “Flame of Truth, Honesty and Integrity,” an internal award for her hard work in the unit.

“This month and this day is not any different than when she started with the Crime Stoppers program in that she gives her whole heart,” Rogers said.

“We’re not only going to miss her expertise, we’re going to miss her faith and just her smiling face every day.”

Contact Dioni L. Wise at 373-7090 or dioni.wise@news-record.com