You know, this is how innocent guys ended up in Gitmo, 'murkns!
Better not piss off any neighbors!!!!
"Tipsters see a chance to earn a buck by reporting crime"
"by Shaila Dewan and Brenda Goodman, New York Times News Service | May 18, 2008
NEW YORK - To gas prices, foreclosure rates, and the cost of rice, add this rising economic indicator: the number of tips to the police from people hoping to collect reward money.
Calls to the Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers hot line in the first quarter of this year were up 30 percent over last year. San Antonio had a 44 percent increase. Cities and towns from Detroit to Omaha to Beaufort County, N.C., all report increases of 25 percent or more in the first quarter, with tipsters telling operators they need the money for rent, light bills, or baby formula.
"For this year, everyone that's called has pretty much been just looking for money," said Sergeant Lawrence Beller, who answers Crime Stoppers calls at the Sussex County, N.J., sheriff's office.
"That's as opposed to the last couple of years, where some people were just sick of the crime and wanting to do something about it," he said.
As a result, many programs report a substantial increase in Crime Stopper-related arrests and recovered property, as callers turn in neighbors, grandchildren, or former boyfriends in exchange for a little cash.
Oh, STALIN would be SO PROUD!!!
So the United States -- the land of "freedom" is going to become the NEW EAST GERMANY, huh?
Excuse me, readers. I gotta go make a phone call about the asshole across the street.
On Friday, a woman called the Regional Crime Stoppers line in Macon, Ga., to find out when she could pick up her reward money for a recent tip. She was irritated to learn that she would have to wait until tomorrow.
"I'm in a bind, I'm really in a bind," she told the hot-line operator. "There's a lot of stuff I know, but I didn't open my mouth. If I weren't in a bind, I wouldn't open my mouth."
Elaine Cloyd, the president of Crime Stoppers U.S.A., a national organization of local tip programs, said that not all of the 323 programs in the country had reported an increase in calls, and that some, like those in Lafayette, La., and Broward County, Fla., attributed most of their spike to increased publicity or technological improvements like accepting tips by text message. But there was no doubt, Cloyd said, that the faltering economy was a significant factor.
"When the economy gets rough, people have to be creative," she said. "They might give a tip where they wouldn't have in the past."
Creative, yeah. Who can I inform on today so I can get paid?!
For tips that bring results, programs in most places pay $50 to $1,000, with some jurisdictions giving bonuses for help solving the most serious crimes, or an extra "gun bounty" if a weapon is recovered. In Sussex County, the average payment for a tip that results in an arrest is $400, Beller said.
"Usually you deliver the money in an unmarked car and meet them somewhere," he said. "But these people come right to the office and walk right through the front door."
Some coordinators suggest that rising crime rates might be driving up the number of tips. But in Jackson, Tenn., Sergeant Mike Johnson said his call volume had gone from two or three a day to eight or nine. "People just need money," Johnson said.
Excuse me, readers, I have another call to make.
Johnson has been a Crime Stoppers coordinator for 15 years, watching crime rates and tips fluctuate. But, he said, "I've never seen an increase like it is now."
Crime Stoppers programs strictly protect the anonymity of callers. Each tip is assigned a number, and if the tip results in an arrest, the caller can collect a cash reward, usually by going to a designated bank. Some programs pay tipsters within hours of an arrest; others have monthly meetings to approve reward amounts.
Not only have the number of tips increased, several program coordinators said, but people are also more diligent about calling back to find out if and when they can collect.
Hey, you know those two guys I phoned in about? When can I get my muney!!!!
Karen Keen, the tips coordinator for First Coast Crime Stoppers in Jacksonville, said she had, on occasion, been given approval to pay tipsters early, if they persuaded her that they needed the money to pay a light bill or some other necessity.
I have rent, food and fuel costs, so how much can I collect?
O.K., let me make another call then.
Some people have made a cottage industry of calling in tips. Although repeat callers do not give their names, operators recognize their voices.
This is DISGUSTING (Sig Heil), readers, and WORSE!!!
Notice how the tone of the article is that this is a GOOD THING?!
NO CONCERNS or CRITICISMS at all!
"We have people out there that, realistically, this could be their job," said Sergeant Zachary Self, who answers Crime Stoppers calls for the Macon Police Department.
"Two or three arrests per week, you could make $700, $750 per week," Self said."Let's see, who else can I inform on -- seeing as the street is now empty?
