Nearly everyone is experiencing the pinch of the slowing economy and rising prices of gas and food. How do you compensate for the change in prices? Work more, try to get a better job, change your spending habits, etc? How about reporting crimes to “Crime Stoppers”? The “Crime Stoppers program, which allows people to call in tips about crimes, for years has paid people for calls that lead to arrests, up to $5000. In previous years, “Crime Stoppers” has only paid out a couple thousand dollars but the increase in living expenses has caused more people to report crimes. As a result, the payout so far this year has been 5 times more than last year.

The total paid out in 2007 was $5,100 while this year has been $20,000. That’s quite a bit of a difference. The organization does not mind paying so much out considering criminals are being apprehended but it does mind when people get crabby about their reward. The organization pays out at the end of each month but in many cases, the tipster insists they get paid IMMEDIATELY. Hmm…we can totally see people supplementing, if not make a living, out of reporting crimes. It wouldn’t surprise us if someone out there convinces someone to commit a crime, only to turn around and call “Crime Stoppers”.

Anyway, it seems as if the purpose of the reward has lost its meaning in this case. A reward is typically given as compensation for doing something good. In this case, people expect to get paid or they get pissy. It doesn’t matter in the long run though considering crimes are stopped regardless of the circumstances. To bad the article does not mention whether the change applies to the entire US or just to San Antonio. If it’s only in San Antonio, It would be interesting to see how payouts have changed across the country.

[Source]

[Crime Stoppers USA]

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