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Comment by sneak | Hacker News Reader

It's illegal for us non-corporate types to bribe cops. Seems to be permissible when Amazon does it.

When Ring started this program, they weren't yet owned by Amazon (according to the article, ended it in 2019; they were acquired in 2018, so it did persist for a little while under Amazon)

You can change the law

There are many interactions with government agents that can expedited with more money, as long as that is codified in law

It isn't functionally different than payments outside of due process

> It's illegal for us non-corporate types to bribe cops.

It's not a bribe if you don't ask for anything in return.

So it's not a bribe if I hand the cop a folded twenty under my drivers license, and don't say a word?

Asking for something in return can be inferred by behavior.

That means I've never bribed a cop, then. :)

Pretty sure it's illegal for anyone to bribe cops, but it's still a tradition as old as policing.

In most places, restaurants aren't allowed to give them free food. (edit: as a commenter pointed out, may be more of a police policy than a legal one) Yet you'll always see restaurants frequented by cops on-duty - guess which ones are breaking those rules.

Can you give specific examples of laws that disallow restaurants giving cops free or discounted food?

https://jcope.ny.gov/gifts

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Displ...

Right, I know there are laws preventing law enforcement from accepting gifts. I was skeptical that there are laws preventing businesses from offering them.

Honestly no, other than conversations I've had in various places with people who ran some eating establishments. It may be more of a police department policy, as the other commenter mentioned.

In most places the onus is on the police not to accept free food. It is their professional duty not to take free items. Because it starts to smell a bit like a protection racket, even if originally people offered out of true generosity/thankfulness.

I think you may be right that's it's less a legal issue than a self-policing issue.

Not doing so does have the risk of devolving into corruption. Here's an example of it going too far that direction, where the police arrested everyone for not giving them free food: https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/16/asia/pakistan-police-detain-s...

It's a enormous stretch to call it bribery. Amazon isn't asking the police to look the other way. They aren't encouraging anything unethical or a breach of trust. Any more than a free laundry soap sampler in the mail is bribery.

Should the police have regulations about this sort of gift? Should, they probably do, and those that don't should.

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