“Two or three arrests per week, you could make $700, $750 per week,” Sergeant Selfsaid. “You could make better than a minimum-wage job.”

The police state loves recessions. People hard up for money are turning in their family, neighbors, and anybody else for some quick cash payments from the snitch state.

Some Crime Stoppers coordinators say their program appeals to community spirit and emphasize that not everyone who calls is after money. But their advertising makes no bones about the benefits of a good tip.

“Crime doesn’t pay but we do,” say the mobile billboards cruising Jacksonville, Fla. A poster in Jackson, Tenn., draws a neat equation: “Ring Ring + Bling Bling = Cha-Ching.” The bling, in this case, is a pair of handcuffs.

The New York Times celebrates the mindless, little totalitarians who become informants to help pay the bills. As the writers of the article note, the snitches are "creative." I argued a long time ago that there's always been a totalitarian force amongst the masses, and what better way to fan the flames of fear and grow state dependency than to offer up depreciating dollars to a bunch of financially needy and mindless losers.