Make money while having fun turning in your neighbors! Gee didn't I say a few months ago a bounty would be paid for turning in gun owners? Hell, in addition to the $100 payment they are giving an additional $25 PER GUN reward to the snitch. Also notice that NYC admitted to 400 tips but only 100 arrests. Does that mean that 3/4 of these people were needlessly harrassed?
[url]www.triblive.com/live/news/news_story.html?rkey=163324+sid=c96b25a89f17b2c437b3a30b9223e7b2[/url]
Reward program aims to get illegal weapons off city streets
By David Conti
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Local residents can get $125 or more by calling 911 to report people [b]they believe are carrying weapons without a license[/b], under a new program unveiled
Thursday by Pittsburgh police.
The Gun Stoppers program, paid for with a federal grant, has worked in several other cities, including New York and Charleston, S.C., Pittsburgh police Chief
Robert W. McNeilly Jr. said.
"I believe this will have an impact on the amount of violence we're seeing in the city," he said.
A similar program in New York City, which offers $500 rewards, has generated 400 tips that led to 100 arrests and 86 weapons being confiscated since January,
police said.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Pittsburgh schools police are co-sponsoring the local program.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported earlier this month that city police arrested 201 people for carrying guns illegally during the first seven months of the year.
That's a 40 percent increase in the number of arrests during the same period last year.
Police and experts said there is a direct connection between the increase in illegal guns on the street and the increase in homicides in Pittsburgh this year.
[b]Gun Stoppers calls for residents to call police with the location and description of people they believe are carrying guns.[/b] In return, 911 operators will give the
caller a secret code.
The caller's identification will be kept confidential, McNeilly said.
The caller should then check back with 911 later in the day. If an arrest for carrying a firearm without a license is made, the caller will be given instructions for
picking up the cash reward at a secret location.
[b]An arrest carries a $100 reward. Callers also get $25 for every illegal gun police confiscate.[/b]
[b]The callers will not have to testify in court if an arrest is made[/b] because, even with a telephone tip, the officer must have probable cause to search the suspected gun
carrier, officials said.
In April, the ATF conducted a training session for more than 250 city and school police officers on how to identify someone who is carrying a gun illegally.
"They are trained for certain things to look for ... certain mannerisms and things people do when they're carrying a gun," McNeilly said.