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Train burglaries in LA

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Re: Train burglaries in LA

#141

Post by icelancer »

w_t_payne wrote: post #124

Why is there not CCTV there? CCTV + police follow-up and arrests made seems like a good way to combat this (serious, economically damaging) situation.

CCTV in an age of universal and accepted mask-wearing is pretty ineffective. I have video of people breaking into my business and stealing five figures worth of goods a few years back with specific identification of them, forwarded to the police, who have done nothing with it. Non-violent crimes (specifically property damage or theft) just aren't prosecuted, especially on the west coast.

Re: Train burglaries in LA

#142

Post by icelancer »

idontwantthis wrote: post #32
rdtsc wrote: post #3

Wonder how organized that looting is. Is just individuals over many months or years, or a large gang over a few weeks time. On the one hand it’s shocking to see it in LA in US. On the other I am surprised it’s not happening more often. In large cities, some of my acquaintances had to get PO boxes as their packages kept getting stolen. But why bother wasting time going house to house, when you can hit a whole train ca…

I wonder if it's organized or just like kids in a candy store. There's so much to steal, I wonder if there's need for conflict or management.

Both, probably.

Re: Train burglaries in LA

#143

Post by atemerev »

acron0 wrote: post #129
jorvi wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Like putting locks and security on your home, "Now they won't break into MY home, because the guy next door has less security, so they'll go at him instead". This is not uniquely American. In the EU so many people by SUVs (despite the impracticality in smaller European streets) “because it’ll make sure I have the benefit in a car crash”. It is technically correct but such an extremely cold statement.

I've literally never heard this, after having lived in the EU for almost 40 years.

I have heard this attitude in Eastern Europe and Russia. Here in Switzerland, nobody cares about the size of the car — road safety is exemplary.

Re: Train burglaries in LA

#144

Post by Shacklz »

jsiaajdsdaa wrote: post #106
dusted wrote: post #102

My observation from the comment sections to this post-apocalyptic video is the following: People focusing on how to prevent the theft of these cars, funding police, armed guards on trans, better security. I think this is an interesting perspective, it's very "American", it's like it has been accepted by these commenters that rampant thievery is a perfectly natural part of life and so, must be worked around rather tha…

Fixing this is a two part issue. One, we cannot get rid of physical security, as everyone should have the right to protect themselves and their property. Two, the way to prevent crime from happening is to make people feel in the heart and soul that crime is morally wrong and destructive for the community around them. This is not instinctual human behavior. For those who learn this and live this, great. For those who…

> get rid of physical security, as everyone should have the right to protect themselves and their property.

This kind of individual-first-thinking is probably one of the main reasons why we see pictures like in OP in the first place.

Re: Train burglaries in LA

#145

Post by mngnt »

dusted wrote: post #102

My observation from the comment sections to this post-apocalyptic video is the following: People focusing on how to prevent the theft of these cars, funding police, armed guards on trans, better security. I think this is an interesting perspective, it's very "American", it's like it has been accepted by these commenters that rampant thievery is a perfectly natural part of life and so, must be worked around rather tha…

The cause is the same as it always has been: it is easier for some people to get to the desired standard of living by stealing/other crime than by working.

Why crime us going up? Because of higher desired standard (every body needs an iPhone, brand name shoes and hats), more difficulty with earning a wage (largely, difficulty getting a job at all) and decreased difficulty in crime (defunding police, more aesily available opportunities to steal, etc).

For well-off people it is easier to earn their standard by earning money by work than by stealing. Or they have more comfortable ways of stealing than haulig a paltry 10k in av equipment...

I wish i could be an idealist and to believe in a world where every one is happy with what they've got. But that's a utopia. Humans will always crave to have more than each other ad will steal, loot, defraud, do anything to get there.

Lock your trains well.

Re: Train burglaries in LA

#146

Post by computerfriend »

zo1 wrote: post #34
Seattle3503 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Additionally, mail theft laws which include prison as a consequence should be extended to package thefts if they don't already cover them. But it is a nonviolent crime. It seems like finding some way to prevent the thefts is better.

I disagree. If you prevent this one, some people will stop, whilst others will just find something else to steal elsewhere. It's like a big game of wack-a-mole. I'd much rather we arrest them so they can be rehabilitated or helped. Which is a separate discussion, but there have to be consequences. Sometimes it's too late to help them and we just need to stem the damage they do to society and other people that are inn…

> I'd much rather we arrest them so they can be rehabilitated or helped.

This is not what happens when people are arrested.

Re: Train burglaries in LA

#147

Post by alkonaut »

blamazon wrote: post #9
Ansil849 wrote: post #5

I don't really understand what is happening here. Why is the ground completely covered in packages? Do thieves just break into the passing train compartments and start throwing out packages?

The trains are forced to stop at this accessible location sometimes, just outside the rail yard. They don’t stop for long, so the strategy is to hop on, cut a container open, and throw as much stuff to the ground as you can before the train starts moving again. Then you hop down and look through your spoils for items of value. Hint: look for “lithium ion battery device inside” warning labels.

So if the train cars, or the containers thee packages are kept in within the train cars, were at least so secure that they prevented access for say an hour or two, then this likely wouldn't happen?

What is this, open crates or sacks of packages, in traincars locked with a small padlock?

Re: Train burglaries in LA

#148

Post by wahern »

Ansil849 wrote: post #98
esyir wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Screw it. This notion that we should only punish violent crime, and all other crime should be ignored needs to go. Look at this chain of logic presented above. >> Additionally, mail theft laws which include prison as a consequence should be extended to package thefts if they don't already cover them. >But it is a nonviolent crime. It seems like finding some way to prevent the thefts is better. The implied conclusion…

> unilaterally and directly harm other people. Which is precisely what "punishment" does. Try being less vindictive and more understanding about the root circumstances that lead someone to perform an act of desperation.

1. Statistics show that crime levels strongly correlate with economic inequality

2. ?

3. Most criminals are just poor people scraping by using the only means available to them; veritable street kids stealing a loaf of bread

Honestly, I don't understand this logic at all. Specifically, how people arrive at #3.

Re: Train burglaries in LA

#150

Post by alkonaut »

paganel wrote: post #100

That's one of the main reasons why driverless lorries will never be a thing. Unless you accompany each one of them by a weaponised mini-drone, Robocop-style, that is.

What difference would a driver do? A driver is instructed to not interefere if robbed. The difference I suppose is that what would otherwise be a robbery could be a mere burglary which could have less legal risk as well as less risk of violence (In the case a driver interferes, against his instructions)
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