SENIOR police officers are being urged to hand out more bounty money in an effort to encourage people to help fight crime, it was revealed yesterday.
Police regional commanders have reminded their district commanders that under police general orders, a small reward of up to $500 can be offered to an individual as a token of appreciation for assisting officers.
Bounty money differs from a police reward, which deals mainly with more serious crime such as armed robbery and murder. A police reward has to be approved by the Deputy Director (Crime) at police headquarters.
But bounty money is recommended by police divisional commanders and subject to approval by the district commander.
Aberdeen divisional commander Superintendent Paul Deal said many divisional commanders had been unaware of bounty money. ''The reward is an appreciation of assistance one has given to police, in a bid to encourage more people to come forward to assist any inquiries we might have,'' he said.
He explained that simply dialling 999 to report a crime would not automatically make someone eligible for the money, as a person had to have ''some elements of involvement'' in the case, such as giving a statement.