Crimestoppers: The legitimation of snitching

A recent addition to the U.S. crime-fighting arsenal is Crimestoppers, a program relying on anonymous citizens' informing to police—snitching—in return for cash rewards. Using a social constructionist perspective, this paper seeks to account for Crimestoppers' legitimation and rapid rise in popularity despite well-established moral opposition to snitching and snitches and despite a general public reluctance to become involved in police business. The analysis of conditions leading to this legitimation includes consideration of a general public pessimism and fear of crime, stereotypy of criminals, the instrumental and pragmatic nature of Crimestoppers, and the appeal of localism, as well as the roles of the media and the police. The paper concludes with questions about some potential long-range social psychological and sociopolitical consequences of this innovation in the “war on crime.”