3 ms·

I find this proposal problematic. There is a world of difference between reporting on a violation in your community because you're a concerned citizen, and dire

I find this proposal problematic. There is a world of difference between reporting on a violation in your community because you're a concerned citizen, and directly incentivizing citizens to report on each other. I'm sure you can find some small counter examples, but by and large the US has never had a history of augmenting law enforcement by way of private citizens. We are not a country of snitches.

awb 4y ago
What’s the difference between snitching and reporting a crime? The severity of the crime and your relationship to the offender?
andrew991116 4y ago
A similar thing was attempted in Taiwan, and some people ended up quitting their jobs & just drove around with a dash cam all day to report people. It eventually ended because fines & reports skyrocketed & people became furious.
yardie 4y ago
> I'm sure you can find some small counter examples, but by and large the US has never had a history of augmenting law enforcement by way of private citizens. We are not a country of snitches. Well not a small counter example, but a very large organization with origins in the KKK. [0] In fact, snitching on fellow Americans has become so common we created an internet meme when, specifically, white women of a certain social class do it. [1] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens%27_Councils https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens%27_Councils [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_(slang) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_(slang)
bombcar 4y ago
scarface74 4y ago
If you ignore the law that was passed in Texas before Roe vs Wade was overturned giving private citizens the right to sue abortion providers. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/09/us/abortion-law-regulations-texas.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/09/us/abortion-law-regulatio...
massysett 4y ago
Actually there is a long history of this in the USA, so much so that there is a term of art for it and a Wikipedia article. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_attorney_general https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_attorney_general

awb 4y ago

What’s the difference between snitching and reporting a crime? The severity of the crime and your relationship to the offender?

andrew991116 4y ago

A similar thing was attempted in Taiwan, and some people ended up quitting their jobs & just drove around with a dash cam all day to report people. It eventually ended because fines & reports skyrocketed & people became furious.

yardie 4y ago

> I'm sure you can find some small counter examples, but by and large the US has never had a history of augmenting law enforcement by way of private citizens. We are not a country of snitches. Well not a small counter example, but a very large organization with origins in the KKK. [0] In fact, snitching on fellow Americans has become so common we created an internet meme when, specifically, white women of a certain social class do it. [1] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens%27_Councils https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens%27_Councils [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_(slang) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_(slang)

bombcar 4y ago

scarface74 4y ago

If you ignore the law that was passed in Texas before Roe vs Wade was overturned giving private citizens the right to sue abortion providers. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/09/us/abortion-law-regulations-texas.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/09/us/abortion-law-regulatio...

massysett 4y ago

Actually there is a long history of this in the USA, so much so that there is a term of art for it and a Wikipedia article. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_attorney_general https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_attorney_general