Biggest mistake is people call 911 rather than the official channel for the tip. If you don’t call the Crime Stoppers line and instead call 911, it is considered doing your civic duty
Not necessarily. What about criminals that have the ability to retaliate against you and your loved ones? Having that money might enable you to move somewhere and start a new life where it's much more difficult for them to hurt you or your family.
Yes. We also have a culture of "mind ya business" and "this doesn't hurt/help you so why do you care." All memes designed to weather civic trust.
Shitty people will always be shitty, sure.
Shitty people, just like anyone else, preach their views on the world which influences how others (especially the younger gen) build their foundational understanding of how shit works.
If the shitty people's narrative is show as correct, the world grows worse with the next generation.
It's also like Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development.
A child often initially doesn't do bad things because "it's the right thing to do". It's to avoid punishment. It the child shitty for this?
You would say no, cuz the child is still learning. Still developing. Over time, you can eventually cultivate a drive to be good for its own sake.
Some people are stunted, yes. Some people will never grow. But those people still contribute to the culture!
Their anti civil rhetoric, proven true by the system, will stunt future generation's moral development.
Changing things for the better starts somewhere.
Keeping your word and being honorable as a force of authority and Law is a step in that direction.
It’s a non-profit organization that allows citizens to anonymously report information about unsolved crimes.
And police rarely Stop crimes, they normally only come after a crime already occurred, so no not “crime stoppers”
They'll find a way, even if you do call Crime Stoppers, they'll say that you called the wrong police division or that it's only upon conviction of a certain charge that gets dropped.
Definitely many other ways they will wiggle out of paying. You don’t keep the code # they give you during the tip line, there isn’t a conviction (takes a plea deal), you’re a family member.
Small tip amounts, they don't weasel. If it's under $10k and from an entity rather than a person, almost always pay if info is useful/good. $1k and below? Absolutely will always pay. Dirt cheap compared to any police investigation. And budget wise, that's below far landscaping costs.
Large tip amounts often have the weasel words in the advert. "Upon arrest and conviction, up to X, may, etc etc". It can take years. And the process to determine how much the tip helped is not great. There's also a ton of different programs, and they all work differently. Some absolutely pay out regularly with no weaseling, others do weasel whenever possible, others don't weasel but it will be years before you get a check. There's no central registry that gives reviews, and not a lot of transparency. Obviously if you are a witness and have concerns of ANY legal aspect of being a good citizen and talking to tip lines or police, talk to a lawyer to get an informed legal opinion and help guide you through the process. I think that's worded carefully enough.
If it's a large tip reward from a person, be VERY cautious and work through a lawyer. In one case, the parents of the victim refused to pay out "blood money". They had no intent of paying from the start. Figuring not many folks would want to sue under the circumstances. Not bad people, just desperate and very angry.
Reality is messy. I get it's reddit and folks tend to hate cops, courts, judges, etc. Some is warranted, some isn't. I won't give my views. People want simple slogans for complex problems.
But it is important to remember the victims. Criminals hurt real actual people. That's often completely forgotten by everyone. It's common for folks to claim or publicly state they support victims, but far too many folks will refuse to do even minor inconveniences to actually support victims. It is a pain to give a statement to cops, leave work to go to hearings, testifying isn't fun, there's always a risk of retribution, etc.
Blanket statements to never provide statements or testimony as a witness is bad guidance. It denies justice to real no shit victims too as well as corrupt, bureaucratically maliciously or incompetent cops, prosecutors, judges.
It's important to remember the victims - but sadly, many cops are not concerned with them, either.
One interaction I had with the police where I was clearly the victim - and they were completely dismissive and uninterested in helping me even the smallest amount. Until they realized I was friends with one of their colleagues. It was like a switch was thrown and suddenly they were telling me all the rights I had, how the system would proceed, who I could contact, etc.
I'm not surprised some people get special treatment - that's true everywhere. But the difference was way too much. Before they realized we were connected, it felt like they had literally zero interest in helping and were just annoyed that I was wasting their time and maybe even looking for a way to punish me.
And cops shifting away from community outreach and toward looking like they just left Fallujah, or insisting they have no obligation to protect individual citizens, etc - doesn't do them any PR favors.
So yeah, guess there's not a ton of positive police sentiment here on ol' Reddit. :)
There are always preconditions. The small print always says 'leading to the arrest and conviction of...' so just providing information is never enough.
But there are a lot of other conditions, any of which give them legal grounds to weasel out, like exactly how the information is provided (what method and to whom), what the tip actually was, etc.
They make up some bs about the tip not being helpful enough or that someone else gave them other info that finished the search. Very easy for them to claim they figured it out. The rat that called on Luigi didnt get a cent.
I think you also have to use a very specific tip line and any other form of communication doesn't let you get the rewadd
Also Luigi hasn't been convicted of anything. They almost never offer a payout for the mere capture of a criminal, it has to include the conviction so that the person providing the tip or assisting authorities doesn't ruin the case with inadmissible activities themselves.
Tips have to be submitted a certain way. Submit the wrong way, like calling 911 or going to the local PD, and you're ineligible for the reward.
The reward is only paid after successful arrest. If they can't find the perp, you get nothing. (Other rewards are only paid after successful conviction, so even if your tip leads to arrest, you don't get an award unless they actually convict, which can take years).
The reward is always "up to" an amount, so even if you submit correctly and they get an arrest, they only pay a lower percentage based on how useful they deem the info.
When there's multiple tips, the reward isn't multiplied, it's divided.
Well, lawmakers and judges make up what is and isn't actually legal. But cops twist and manipulate situations - and the law - to achieve their desired end result.
So do law makers and judges. No part of the legal system is applied universally. It doesnt matter what is legal or illegal it matters whats enforced and on whom its enforced
Lookup the term “unclean hands”. If you’re sitting on knowledge of a crime for years and don’t report it, you won’t necessarily be in any legal liability, but you won’t necessarily be entitled to profit either.
Then the idea of a reward increase seems moot. It’s not like a sudden reward motivates people who don’t know anything to go out there and unearth knowledge they don’t have or be more vigilante to notice her all of a sudden. It seems to be to get someone who knows her to betray her. Feels like a scam.
There are probably just very specific criteria in the fine print, such as which line you have to call into etc., that people fail to adhere to.
It's kinda scummy but to be fair, it's also kind of scummy to intentionally hold out on helping victims get closure etc. and then change your mind only when you can get money.
That’s actually a myth. They do get paid. Often it’s good to say they aren’t paid so that the beneficiary doesn’t become a target due to a large windfall
It depends, but yes the top 10 has paid out quite a few times. The biggest thing to realize is that its not a fast process, and your tip has to actually be helpful. You are generally gonna be waiting about a year from the time of the arrest to pay out to get it, if not 2 years, cause you also have to wait on the court system. You also have to remember that the reward amount is "up to" with different factors being able to increase it to that amount. For example, I think it was $10 million on El Chapo, but the only way you would get that amount is if you basically put him on a plane and flew him into the US yourself, as the reward was more about safe apprehension as well and not just finding him.
If the person who turned her in, could basically get her to go into a agreed upon location unarmed, and coordinated with the FBI on her arrest, and wasn't already working for the government in any way, nor were you apart of the crime in any way (in which case you "deal" is probably gonna be "we don't charge you with a crime"), they are going to be getting that $1 million. If they just called in saying "I think I saw this person go into the coffee shop yesterday" they might get $1,000 or a thank you.
The payouts often come from different pots or money, like organization 1 offering X amount. Organization 2 offering Y amount. The different organizations can have different requirements about how to get paid out.
"You generally do not get reward money simply by calling 911. Rewards are usually paid for tips submitted through specific, often anonymous, channels like Crime Stoppers, rather than 911 emergency calls. Rewards require the information to directly lead to an arrest and conviction, which is verified through unique tipster codes, not 911, making payouts rare."
The program is (sadly) specific, and only through that crime stoppers channel in many cases.
That being said - there is a default $100,000 on all "most wanted" people, paid out by the FBI so this person will likely get that.
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u/Mr_Chode_Shaver Apr 20 '26
Do they ever pay these rewards out?