Crime pays for police informants in Britain

The AFP reports that Sussex Police are "rewarding informants with 10 pounds (14 euros, 18 dollars) in mobile phone credits for useful tip-offs via text messaging.

"The police have set up a special number to take information on crimes from members of the public via SMS messaging, under a pilot scheme called "Textme" that is aimed at young people.

"We log the information from each text we receive and subject them to proper investigation," said inspector Mark Piper, who thought up the idea.

"If the information proves useful, we respond with a thank you and tell them we would like to give them 10 pounds credit" -- worth about 100 text messages on the typical pay-as-you-go cellphone.

emily | 5:11 PM | Citizens as Informants |
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