When we consider that, aside from collaborators, innocent friends and family members are the ones most likely to know about a person's crimes or at least harbour suspicions, but may hesitate to report the crime or suspicion thereof to the police to protect the person from imprisonment, and that the police might never learn about the crime without someone voluntarily providing information, should the police be allowed to advertise certain offers to such friends and family members?
For example, let's say you suspect that your friendly and helpful neighbour brings prostitutes home on a regular basis and want to report it to the police but simply don't believe that his crime warrants imprisonment, that you could negotiate that any punishment will be limited to a fine in exchange for your testimony.
Likewise, if you suspect that your wife is involved in tax evasion, that again you could negotiate a strictly financial punishment in the form of a fine in exchange for your testimony.
Of course this should not apply for cases of murder, arson, or theft aside from tax evasion, though some kind of incentive could be provided even then in the form of a somewhat lighter pubishment. As an example, if Canada allowed capital punishment, that a friend or family member could turn him in in exchange for life in prison. Or the family member of a thief could turn him in in exchange for a lighter sentence.
Of course any such deal would be off if the police was on to the person already, but if it should initially find out about it because of that friend or family member, only then could he negotiate this.
And of course the police would even be allowed to create a website with a contact number that would inform people of what the alternative lighter punishment is for any crime if a friend or family member opts for that option vs. if the police fond out on their own.
This could lead to cases in which if a friend or family member erroneously believes that the police might soon be on to their loved one, that they might end up turning him in when in fact the police had previously suspected nothing about him.
We could even day that in such cases, the person would be protected from deportation for at least that specific crime.
For example, let's say you suspect that your friendly and helpful neighbour brings prostitutes home on a regular basis and want to report it to the police but simply don't believe that his crime warrants imprisonment, that you could negotiate that any punishment will be limited to a fine in exchange for your testimony.
Likewise, if you suspect that your wife is involved in tax evasion, that again you could negotiate a strictly financial punishment in the form of a fine in exchange for your testimony.
Of course this should not apply for cases of murder, arson, or theft aside from tax evasion, though some kind of incentive could be provided even then in the form of a somewhat lighter pubishment. As an example, if Canada allowed capital punishment, that a friend or family member could turn him in in exchange for life in prison. Or the family member of a thief could turn him in in exchange for a lighter sentence.
Of course any such deal would be off if the police was on to the person already, but if it should initially find out about it because of that friend or family member, only then could he negotiate this.
And of course the police would even be allowed to create a website with a contact number that would inform people of what the alternative lighter punishment is for any crime if a friend or family member opts for that option vs. if the police fond out on their own.
This could lead to cases in which if a friend or family member erroneously believes that the police might soon be on to their loved one, that they might end up turning him in when in fact the police had previously suspected nothing about him.
We could even day that in such cases, the person would be protected from deportation for at least that specific crime.