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Police allow car break-ins to become a Seattle growth industry

seattletimes.com

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Re: Police allow car break-ins to become a Seattle growth industry

#61

Post by vezzy-fnord »

Chevalier wrote: post #55
jjoonathan wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> blind hatred for the police Reactions to a detailed first person account are "blind"? What, pray tell, is your standard of acceptable sources for a debate? > I understand why cops are leery of having citizens pursue and enforce vigilante justice. 1. The victim of theft did not "enforce vigilante justice" even when the police refused to help him. 2. The victim of theft did not propose enforcing vigilante justice at…

Sorry, but you're either deliberately or negligently misinterpreting my post. The cops ordered the author to stop pursuing the thieves, for fear of a shootout. They were not themselves afraid of shooting the thieves. The author seems to be quite correct in all his actions, and his anger is appropriate. The cops should have pursued his case, and their failure to do so is wrong. However, scan this thread for idiotic kn…

Villainizing the profession is seems to be an emotional outlet for white guilt and class resentment.

How in the hell? A lot of arguments against police come from libertarian perspectives: ones that reject such ideas grounded in identity politics to begin with. Right-wing perspectives, in other words.

All most cops want from their jobs is a peaceful world where criminals don't run riot through decent people.

You certainly do live in a very charitable world.

Re: Police allow car break-ins to become a Seattle growth industry

#62

Post by tralala123 »

What??? I thought that if marijuana was legalized in Washington, that the world would be a better place... Cops will be freed up to deal with "real crime" and people would magically be better citizens...

What could have gone wrong? Nearly all crime rates have gone up.

Re: Police allow car break-ins to become a Seattle growth industry

#64

Post by tantalor »

iramiller wrote: post #47

Perhaps this is a also a growth opportunity for a private security firm. Call us, we will use our trained armed personnel to confront the suspects and return your stuff. I would hope that it would not take too many incidents of private security 'resolving' issues to see that a police force doing its job is a far more preferred solution.

Just call Phoenix Jones!

Seriously, how much would you pay for private security to return your stolen iPhone?

Re: Police allow car break-ins to become a Seattle growth industry

#65

Post by IanDrake »

"Help! A van with license plate XXX-123 just shot at a guy in the parking lot here...hold on, what did you say...[muffled sound]...there's a badge on his belt, I think he's a cop from (insert adjacent town). I can still see the van, it just parked down the road at..."

You get the idea. Call it in from the nearest pay phone and leave. Guaranteed response.

I'd only do this if I lived in an area with a bunch of deadbeat cops. In MA our cops do their job without having to be tricked into doing it...the courts on the other hand seem to let everyone off.

Re: Police allow car break-ins to become a Seattle growth industry

#66

Post by bkeroack »

Chevalier wrote: post #15

I really hate to see blind hatred for the police on HN. It's a tough goddamn job, people, made all the more so by political pressure to improve statistics. As pointed out elsewhere in this thread, police are forced to focus on serious crimes and solvable crimes and avoid minor and unsolvable crimes. Nobody wants it to work that way, but departments are hammered when they bring down crime stats. This story is pretty o…

Sad that you're being down voted. Apparently The majority of HNers only care about drug legalization and stories demonizing underpaid civil servants doing a thankless and dangerous job.

Re: Police allow car break-ins to become a Seattle growth industry

#67

Post by arh68 »

Chevalier wrote: post #15

I really hate to see blind hatred for the police on HN. It's a tough goddamn job, people, made all the more so by political pressure to improve statistics. As pointed out elsewhere in this thread, police are forced to focus on serious crimes and solvable crimes and avoid minor and unsolvable crimes. Nobody wants it to work that way, but departments are hammered when they bring down crime stats. This story is pretty o…

> I really hate to see blind hatred for the police

> I have no explanation or excuse why the cops refused to investigate the caller's lead -- and maybe there is no reasonable explanation -- but I'd rather give them the benefit of the doubt

Why do you espouse blind trust and question 'blind' hatred? How can you be blind to what you've seen with your own eyes?

I understand the danger to personal quests for justice. I understand political pressure. But 'pressure' doesn't stop the officers from responding. They could respond to the call, but they choose not to. For political reasons, understandably, but the facts remain.

Re: Police allow car break-ins to become a Seattle growth industry

#68

Post by donavanm »

jmspring wrote: post #35

Washington is a conceal carry friendly state, I wonder how reporting an attempt at a citizens arrest would have changed the situation. Here in Santa Cruz we have a very high property/lifestyle crime problem, thankfully the PD haven't given up, but the courts have made things here basically catch and release. The story basically comes down to laziness on the part of the police. Seattle doesn't have the budget problems…

I think you misunderstand the intent and extent of "citizens arrest." Trying to retrieve property by force looks a lot like armed robbery.

An individuals CPL status is nearly orthogonal to any armed confrontation. The police will arrest of you brandishing a weapon, CPL or not. Conversely if you use a firearm for self defense a CPL is irrelevant to the appropriate use of force. And in any offensive use of a weapon you will go to jail. Just the other week a homeless man down the street was arrested as he continued to shoot at two criminals after they were no longer a threat: http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2014/10/18/police-arrest-man-f...

Re: Police allow car break-ins to become a Seattle growth industry

#69

Post by jeangenie »

iramiller wrote: post #47

Perhaps this is a also a growth opportunity for a private security firm. Call us, we will use our trained armed personnel to confront the suspects and return your stuff. I would hope that it would not take too many incidents of private security 'resolving' issues to see that a police force doing its job is a far more preferred solution.

This idea is the basis for mafia and similar organizations the world over.

Re: Police allow car break-ins to become a Seattle growth industry

#70

Post by Chevalier »

vezzy-fnord wrote: post #58
Chevalier wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By comparison, have you ever had a really positive experience with the dentist? Like cops, they're there to solve painful problems that cause very unhappy memories. Anything that compels you to visit the dentist (or the police to visit you) is not going to be associated with positive forces. It's a tough job to recruit for, since so many people hate you: 1) Minorities hate you, since an overwhelming proportion of cri…

By comparison, have you ever had a really positive experience with the dentist? Not the OP, but yes. All the time, in fact. Then there's also the crucial difference that going to a dentist is a voluntary exchange, whereas being stopped and frisked by police is an unsolicited act of aggression no matter how you put it. ...successful crime prevention means locking up our families and neighbors Hardly. Locking up famili…

"Hardly. Locking up families and neighbors is the exact opposite of crime prevention. It's treating the aftermath. Crime prevention should be analogous to preventative medicine: minimizing the possibility of it occurring to begin with. Police by definition are reactionary agents. They don't have the competence or the will to do anything other than handle aftermaths and create intimidation in a dubiously effective attempt to scare off bad guys."

So... in your opinion, there's no value in removing criminals from the streets because locking them up "is the exact opposite of crime prevention." There is no such thing as a repeat criminal, and the fact that a small number of criminals commit a disproportionate number of crimes is false.

In fact, black and Latino neighborhoods are enriched by the activities of violent felons. Their presence inspires children to study and ensures the safety of women young and old.

I would be very interested to visit your city and see this wonderland.

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