(THE BLAZE) – Lori Lightfoot, Chicago’s Democrat mayor, announced on July 15, 2021, that she would create a $1 million reward program through the Chicago Police Department’s tip line for people who call in reports of illegal firearms. Chicago Police Supt. David Brown said, “This incentive will not only bring honest people forward because of that anonymity but likely will bring people who may be involved, who have a conscience.”
The Chicago Tribune reported that, according to police, one year into the program, only $10,395 of the $1 million on offer has been awarded to tipsters via Crime Stoppers. (Cook County Crime Stoppers will similarly pay tipsters for information resulting in the arrest and filing of felony charges against an offender, in the amount of $1,000.)
According to a CPD advertisement for Lightfoot’s “Gun Trafficking and Homicide Tip Line,” tips leading to charges of someone buying or selling ten or more guns will get a tipster $3,000. If the tip results in a conviction, the reward is $5,000. If a tipster brings information to the CPD’s attention which results in homicide charges, he or she will be awarded $10,000.
