Do people have a moral obligation to report crime? What if it's a "victimless" crime?

Question

If your co-worker at the video store is taking $20 every night from the cash register...would you tell?

If your friend is claiming dependant health insurance & defrauding another employer to receive ineligible benefits..would you interfere?

If your neighbor is on disability & welfare but secretly works a business at home to double dip...would it bother you?

Any real life moral dilemmas you've struggled with?? Would love your opinion.

Answer 1

Yes, this is a problem we run into on a daily basis in our society unfortunately. I've known many people that have done things such as these. Unemployment benefits fraud is pretty big one as well. Claiming unemployment and then working for cash on the side. All of the crimes you've mentioned do have "victims". The people stealing money from a register... the victim would be the employer as well as all the customers of that store or chain when the prices rise do to loss prevention (theft). The stores have to raise their prices in order to compensate for what they've lost. Disability and welfare? Well I could go on all day about this. How about the people that really need help but can't get it because it's not available to them because they make a few dollars too much, but don't have enough food to feed their family when the neighbor next door works for cash and claims welfare while driving a nice car and shops for unessentials on a daily basis?
As for interfering... I'm not sure it would make a difference. I've tried reporting numerous things over the years to no avail. Either the people doing it have connections or know how to hide it well.
We are all victims of these types of crimes. Some of us more then others. But this is what happens in a society where there is sometimes too much trust in what other people are telling and not enough checking into the story being told. Sad but true. There isn't much that can be done in most cases, but do we have a moral obligation to report these non-violent crimes...? I say yes we do. Even if it doesn't change the situation at least we can say we tried instead of looking the other way!

Answer 2

Congratulations! I love it when someone brings a question that really gets the mind going........particularly questions involving what is considered moral or unmoral with respect as to how the law views it.
For the most part, the so called "victimless crimes" are viewed as morally questionable acts that, for the most part affect the person actually committing the act.
Your example of someone stealing from the cash register is not one of a victimless crime, because the store, and moreso, the store owner becomes the victim of the crime. Eventually....$20.00 a everynight becomes $500.00 a week. That is grand theft....a felony.
Take a look at the link I found regarding the terminology of victimless crime.
Best of Luck!

Answer 3

First there is no such thing as a victimless crime.
The co worker that is stealing from the till every knight is costing the company 400 a month or put another way 4800 a year this could bu upgrades for the business or a raise for you that you will not get. The insurance scam this is why the people who are honest get real claims denied and we all have to pay more in heath care cost. Disability and welfare these programs are payed for with tax payers money so they are stilling from you and me. There are people out there who truly need these programs and can not get help. people who abuse them make me sick why should i pay for someone to get rich off a program that was set up for people who can not work and those that need a hand not for people who are Abel to make a living it is also against the law.

Answer 4

You should always tell when it deals with money.

For the co-worker example, that $20 a night might not seem to be hurting anyone. That could be part of somebody's raise that they will now not get. That won't really harm the customers, but it hurts employees that are honest and hard-working.

Receiving ineligible benefits costs innocent employees because that drives up their health costs. It may not seem like it, but that increases the money spent by the health care provider, which cuts into their bottom line, which is then paid by....

Each fraudulent claim of disability is money that is paid by...taxpayers. Since it is such a small amount overall, it may not seem like it's hurting someone. However, this makes the government spend more money, especially when there are many such cases. This burden will be transferred to....YOU.

Bottom line: report it. You're part of the problem when you don't.

Answer 5

Co-worker: I was in this position once except for it was the manager taking money and then trying to write up other people for being short. There was other things going on also. I confronted the manager about it. (My mistake) She said if you don't like it then leave. I said so you are firing me. She said yes. So I left and then called the district manager and reported her. The next morning the manger called and wanted to know why I wasn't in at work. I told her because you fired me. She claimed she didn't. Not my problem. About 6 months later the manager finally got busted and fired.

Friend dependant health ins. : I would have to look at the whole situation before doing so. Yes it is wrong but how bad does this person need the ins.

Neighbor: A person trying to survive wouldn't bother me. If the person is truely disabled and is making extra cash then I see no problem. Disability and welfare doens' t pay much. If the person was not disabled and just lazy then I would have a problem. The system is supposed to be a temp. thing not a life long thing.

Real life moral dilemma: I used to work in a group home with people who suffer from mental disorders. I was working one day and I passed the wrong med. I could of easily marked the charts as if I had done nothing wrong. If I report myself to the nurse I am going to get into trouble. If I don't report myself then I could possibly harm a human being. There was a very easy solution for this. I reported myself unlike others that work in the group homes. (not all employees are bad, but I seen alot of bad things going on.)

I no longer could pass meds for a period of time. I was ok with that. I lost a dollar in pay and my assistant manager position. I was not ok with that. I was ok with my decision because I knew I did the right thing. After all of this I understand why people lie that work in the group homes. (fear of punishment for doing the right thing.) What I don't understand is how one can choose to lie over the safety of a human being. Again not all group home employees are bad just some of them. (I can say that I seen it with my own eyes.)

Answer 6

The real question is, "Do you have any Morals", for all the frauding and thieving that goes on another person's insurance rates go up or someone is charge a little more for a product.

If this is a friend I strongly suggest you let them know that you are aware of what is going on and you would like them to stop so that you do not have to commit a Godly Sin (Lying).

Answer 7

Pedro is right, all crimes have victims, even if the victims are affected indirectly. Some people, for example, say that drug use is a victimless crime. But it's not! Oftentimes, someone has spent all their money on drugs and then they OD. When they go to the hospital, they have to be treated. So who has to pay for it? Taxpayers.

Answer 8

A. Bush can't salary warfare all on his own. He had a good number of accomplices in Congress. B. by your reason, each member of Congress who voted to furnish him the authority to bypass into Iraq must be tried besides. this may include the present vice chairman and Secretary of State. So if it truly is an street the libs favor to pursue, have at it.

Answer 9

I have been put in the position several times, and if it is hurting minimal people then i let live, but if it affects many people, it seems a moral responsibility......... but some friends have told me to keep my eyes on my own paper......

Answer 10

I would report all of those people, they are not good examples of victimless crime at all.