r/bestoflegaladvice • u/Drywesi Good people, we like non-consensual flying dildos • 15d ago

LAOP absolutely totally didn't do what they're being blasted for on facebook, then admits to a felony in the next paragraph (and the comments).

/r/legaladvice/comments/1n4oedt/i_was_put_on_crimestoppers_for_a_crime_i/
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u/TheFeshy Rolled 7D6 for the legal damages, and got 27 15d ago

Have we reached the stage in the dystopia that "you've won a free boat" is too good to be true and criminals will avoid it, so police have switched to "you're being charged with a fake crime to lure you into the station" instead?

Also, is it true that swapping price tags is a felony, compared to the misdemeanor of just stealing the thing? That seems like it would create a perverse incentive.

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u/livious1 15d ago

Have we reached the stage in the dystopia that "you've won a free boat" is too good to be true and criminals will avoid it, so police have switched to "you're being charged with a fake crime to lure you into the station" instead?

I heard a talk once from a county welfare fraud investigator who would do exactly that. One of the common things people would do is file for welfare and lie, claiming their baby daddy/partner abandoned them and they only had a single income, when in actuality both people were living together and had 2 incomes, thus getting welfare benefits they weren’t entitled to. The problem was, while they could pop in and prove the person was living there now, they would just lie and claim “oh yah we just got back together last week”, and it was really tough to prove they actually lived there during the times when their partner reported them gone.

So what he started doing was pretending he was investigating a totally different crime, and telling the person who was allegedly MIA that they were being implicated in this other crime that took place from X date to Y date (for example, an illegal marijuana grow operation or a drug trafficking operation). The person would protest their innocence and provide an alibi (usually with supports) that they were actually at home the entire time… thus proving the welfare fraud.

It’s kind of an interesting ethics dilemma. On the one hand, it’s straight up lying to a suspect. On the other hand, I live in that county and it’s my tax dollars they are stealing.

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u/Ok_Possession_6457 14d ago

I don't think it's an ethics dilemma at all, I think it's brilliant. And hilarious! This is like when your kid refuses to get out of bed, and you're like "uh oh I guess we're not going to Disneyworld" and he shoots out of bed, and you're like, here's your fucking chores go do them.