Does anybody really care about crime in this city?

[seaspades]

So, witnessed first hand some scumbag casing my neighbors house, eventually rummaging the garage, stealing something, and then casing houses on the next block. I went to verify – just to make sure it wasn’t some kid – it wasn’t. Took some pictures, called 911, sent to blog, waited for the neighbor to come home. Neighbor didn’t care, cops never called back or asked for the picture (likely never responded). Everyone just went about their day. I darn well hope if one of my neighbors sees a person going through my garage (well, I actually lock my garage) that they too care as much about it and take the time to alert others to the situation.

Not sure what all the “block watches” and “crime alerts are about”. If we’ve got someone red-handed and we don’t want to do anything about it….this is all happy talk.

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[beeswax]

I do. And I hope my neighbors would be as good a neighbor as you are!

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[JanS]

maybe your neighbor puts his old crap out there to be taken away, hoping it’s stolen. Guess it beats paying at the dump…

many of us care about crime in WS…thanks for paying attention anyway :)

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[J242]

Seattle’s PD enforcement has some weird priorities for sure. We keep seeing stories about KNOWN package thieves and home invasion robbers getting released with slaps on the wrist. Theft from our cars (broken windows, pillaging of the interiors) are dismissed without even blinking unless the damage is over $1,500. It creates an open field for “petty” thieves because they know the PD’s priorities don’t include them. It’s not okay and I wish the PD would step up and handle these “petty” crimes with some level of seriousness. Start at the bottom. Your average package thief doesn’t care if the PD busts an international NARCO ring or bank robbers. However, you can bet that if we were busting every package thief, punk for breaking into cars, shoplifters, etc the bigger crime committers would certainly take notice on how much our PD enforces even the smallest crimes.

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[mark47n]

Due to overcrowding in jails and prisons, due in large part to the Reagan era war on drugs, so where can you put non-violent offenders? The justice system, in many cities, have prioritized violent offenders for incarceration. As to the petty thievery, police have never made that priority in any city I’ve ever lived in. Their usual response is to say don’t leave valuables in you car.

If you want them busting every petty thief and putting the in the stocks that’s fine…how many police do you want? One per block? 100 per neighbor hood? How much are you willing to pay for this? What you want is simply not going to happen.

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[angelescrest]

How to get them off drugs?

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[J242]

@mark47n: “Due to overcrowding in jails and prisons, due in large part to the Reagan era war on drugs, so where can you put non-violent offenders?”

Release the non-violent “drug” offenders and you’ll clear up a MASSIVE % of the cells. Its as simple as that. Now, I’m not suggesting that someone who steals a candy bar should serve time, more of a “three strikes” type of system where the first offense is a fine and public service requirement. A second offense is a heavier fine, more public service and the opportunity to get into workplace training programs to try and give them more option to be able to earn a living instead of stealing for it. Third strike, jail. However we need to completely reformat the for-profit industrialized prison complex system and keep it publicly funded with a focus on rehabilitation, not just serving time. Fund classes in jail, fund worker outreach programs to hire ex-cons for further on-site training. That’s how we truly change the system and it’d be cheaper than paying private companies to run our prisons with their fines against the county/state for dropping below certain occupancy rates and the crime that happens after inmates are released with no almost no option of making a better life for themselves on the outside.

Remove all private money from our penal system and focusing on rehabilitation alone would reduce the number of non-violent arrests as there wouldn’t be a profit incentive to pick off the easy targets. Then focus on actual crimes that effect others’ physical or financial well-being and enforce it with the opportunity for them to have it expunged from their record if they don’t commit further crimes. For those with no other option, give them the chance to actually rehabilitate themselves and become contributing members of society so they can enjoy all the protections that come with abiding by the social contract.
I know, it’s a tall order based on a ton of “If only” ‘s but it’s my dream and it works in other nations who’ve actually been smart enough to try it.

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[mark47n]

IT would seem you and I agree, J242, I was just pointing out the why, not my opinion on the situation. I abhor the concept of private prison the same way I abhor healthcare insurance as they are both industries that profit on the suffering and misery of other. Private prisons do so directly and the insurance industry reaps shocking blood money due to the conflict of interest inherent in a system where denying healthcare means that the denier gets to keep the money while the person who hold the policy get to stay sick or even die. I think the conflation of insurance and healthcare that has been embedded in the minds of Americans is the biggest scam ever perpetrated on the American people. I also think that most people don’t know that there is a private prison industry at all. After all, isn’t that the government’s job? now we are paying a corporation to perform the function and make a profit at it. It’s just like how contractors infiltrated the military in 2002.

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[JoB]

i agree.. we need to change our system..
and change the penalties that accrue from that system…
how can we expect people who have been incarcerated to turn their lives around if they can’t get a job or public assistance or public housing based on a mistake they have “paid” for?

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[JoB]

anglescrest..
we get them off drugs by helping them find a life to live for.. not a life to escape from..
housing is a good start… combine it with medical care and a support system.. reconnecting people with supportive families and building new “families” for those whose genetic families are not supportive…

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[Vanessa]

Does anyone understand that there is someone out here in our neighborhoods who over the years has purposfully set our trash and recycle bins on fire? But we’re not allowed to talk about it out loud. I get why we don’t put suicides in the headlines, for fear of more suicides. I guess the same thing applies to the fear of arson. But I am telling you there is someone who lives among us, who does this. And has done this for years. The same thing just happened a few days ago as reported in our WSBlog.

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[newnative]

Who says you’re not allowed to talk about it out loud? WSB reported the trash fire the other day in the construction site. There was a rash of fires a while ago that was reported on.

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