Thanks to the economy, crime tip hot lines are buzzing with activity, helped by the rewards given for tattling on neighbors and family.
“For this year, everyone that’s called has pretty much been just looking for money,” said Sgt. 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.”
Isn’t that a sad commentary on society-as long there’s money involved, people are suddenly concerned about crime in their neighborhoods.
“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.”
How little cash-any where from $50 to $1,000. People involved in Crime Stoppers say that not everyone is in it for the money, but even their own ads emphasize this:
“Crime doesn’t pay but we do,” say the mobile billboards cruising Jacksonville, Fla. A poster in Jackson, Tenn., draws a neat equation: “Ring Ring + Bling Bling = Cha-Ching.” The bling, in this case, is a pair of handcuffs.”
This is what the Stasi did in East Germany, the KGB and their informants and also what happens in China. But the Crime Stoppers folks aren’t deterred-in fact they’re happy that the economy is so bad:
“Economic problems for families, Ms. Routte acknowledged, were good business for Crime Stoppers. “We’re kind of banking on that, really,” she said. “If it helps put dinner on the table for somebody, that’s wonderful.”
Turning this country into a secret police, Stasi type society is wonderful….
What can you do with thinking like that?
P.S. Please note that no matter what I tried, I could not get a link to the first page of the article which is where the first three quotes are from. I have no idea why it won’t link, but it won’t. However if you do go to page 2 and then click on the bottom back to page 1, then you can get to the first page of the article.
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