Derbyshire police announced last week that they will pay a reward of £1000 to anybody reporting another member of the public who they suspect of driving under the influence of alcohol, payable presumably only following conviction. The announcement went on to suggest that people should even report their own friends. Now, not for one moment would I seek to condone drink driving but isn’t this taking matters too far?

Why stop there, why not pay people to report drivers for speeding, for using their mobile telephones when driving, for passing through a red light or any other transgression? Now you may think that any responsible citizen should and maybe would report law-breakers as a matter of course, particularly if other people’s lives are put at risk, and you may well be right.

So why would a responsible citizen have to be bribed to do something which he or she would feel duty-bound to do as a matter of course? The problem with this kind of initiative is that the police are in effect encouraging the public to act as paid informers or snitches against their fellow citizens. Maybe I’m out of touch here but I wonder is this really the kind of society – or country –  we wish to live in?