I wouldn’t put on that blanket a basis, but it’s true with a lot of crimes the police couldn’t or wouldn’t necessarily do anything just because somebody calls and tells on somebody else. ‘Hey police, my brother drives drunk a lot’. So, they are going to stake him out to catch him doing it? Not likely, and if they did it would raise the issue of why they were so interested in him in particular. Similarly with drug offenses in a lot of cases.
But legal requirement would not be my only criterion. In general I’d report anybody for a serious* felony where I was highly confident my information was true and of practical use to the authorities in proving a specific crime. There would always be exceptions, but who says the answer has to be simple or absolute?
*potential weasel word, but OTOH some localities have made some fairly minor stuff into a felony (for example felony evasion in some states includes just driving away from the police, not necessarily recklessly nor requiring them to prove an underlying crime).
Man, I guess we’re learning goody-goody’s have zero loyalty at all. I’m glad I’m not in your families. Because guess what? *Everyone *breaks some stupid law. Do you narc out your kids when they visit you because they street parked without a permit? How about when they jaywalk on the way to the restaurant they’re taking you to? Or when they accidentally run an aggressively timed red that seemed like it should be yellow longer?
Since cops are worse than most criminals and the US justice system a laughable joke focused purely on piling on as many excessive charges as possible to railroad you into a plea bargain that will still ruin your life and all future employment prospects, it would have to be a pretty heavy duty offense to merit dropping a dime.
I’m thinking:
Cold-blooded murder where the victim couldn’t possibly deserve it, or more than one murder even if incited / “justifiable”
Beating / molesting kids
Serial arson or serial DUI or other serial reckless endangerment that’s basically 95% likely to end in innocent deaths if continued much longer.
Everything else gets at least a “look the other way” even if some of them would end with avoiding / cutting off contact. It’s not worth literally ruining the rest of their lives over anything less.
For me, it’s not about being my friend, but just whether or not I should get involved at all. Being my friend only matters in that I will be more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt when I don’t know what’s going on. But if I know you’re committing the crime, then the issue is the same as if you were a stranger.
That said, there are many crimes I would not turn people in for. I would consider how much harm it actually does. I’m pretty sure I’d wind up about the same places most of you would. Illegal downloading? Nah. Stole a grape at the supermarket? Nah. Speed when they drive? Nah. No, Textual Innunedo, I’m not going to turn people in for those things you mention.
But it’s all about whether what you are doing is sufficiently bad to get the police involved to stop you. Not whether or not you’re my friend.
That’s not what loyalty means. It means being there to help them out, being available for them, sticking with them when the going gets tough. It’s not some sort of entitlement to let you get away with things that hurt others.
Oh, and TI, the danger of creating a limited list is that it’s easy to leave things out. I would hope rape would be on your list, too. And I’m sure if someone stole your car, you’re not going to just ignore that.