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Train burglaries in LA

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Re: Train burglaries in LA

#51

Soft on crime policies like restorative justice simply attract crime. No consequences means no deterrent. It’s not surprising this happens in LA - George Gascon is the DA and he’s facing increasing support for his recall ( https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/liberal-beverly-hill... ).

This is not LAPD responsibility, and the HQ of the responsible force is in Omaha Nebraska.

Re: Train burglaries in LA

#52
post #36

I would expect this kind of pictures from a third world country... How come no one is incentivized to fix this - protect the trains, prevent this loss of property? Who pays for the stolen goods? I presume it would be the retailers, is it just a drop in the ocean for them? In some more dystopian movies there were trains crossing vast areas of postapocalyptic hellscape protected by soldiers with machine guns and flamet…

Escape from LA will become a documentary soon.

Re: Train burglaries in LA

#53
post #36

I would expect this kind of pictures from a third world country... How come no one is incentivized to fix this - protect the trains, prevent this loss of property? Who pays for the stolen goods? I presume it would be the retailers, is it just a drop in the ocean for them? In some more dystopian movies there were trains crossing vast areas of postapocalyptic hellscape protected by soldiers with machine guns and flamet…

I'm pretty sure Buffett's company, which invests in both Union Pacific and insurance, is incentivized to resolve this.

This photojournalist probably just helped him make a bunch of money by identifying a prime location for an ongoing problem. The fact that we saw it before UP did doesn't mean they aren't incentivized to stop it. It's obviously bad business if their deliveries are missing packages.

Re: Train burglaries in LA

#54
post #12

Sigh - Any resourced and competent police or security force should be able to catch or deter thieves that are stealing packages from the same location . Additionally, mail theft laws which include prison as a consequence should be extended to package thefts if they don't already cover them.

Looks like it's already a federal crime of it's own with possible prison time: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1991

Re: Train burglaries in LA

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very few people want to actually defund the police. But try being a black friend of mine, who got thrown out of his car without resisting and beaten so bad he had to go to an ICU, purely because he was driving a car that “matched the description” (that didn’t even match the color) of a crime in the area, and perhaps you can begin to understand why the “other side” is frustrated… And let me guess. You think these trai…

I am well aware of the colloquial term "Defund the police" which is often met by "No, not literally defund it". But the reality is that there is a strong support to reduce resources and move towards soft-policing. Have you been to the Bay Area? Apartment complexes and condominiums are hardened like castles while their kids play in the safe courtyards and the outside is rotting to the point of unsafe for male padestri…

Dude, I literally live in the Bay Area. And crime here is no where even close to bad as it was where I used to live in Texas. It’s all relative. Especially when politics is involved.

I see absolutely no reason to believe that raising police budgets would somehow magically fix this. It wouldn’t. We have deeper societal issues at hand.

Re: Train burglaries in LA

#56

> Responsibility for policing the railroad right of way falls on Union Pacific Police... not local agencies like LAPD So is 'Union Pacific Police' just a security company, or do you guys in the US actually have private businesses with their own police? Because that sounds pretty dystopian

Us and those wild Canadians up North too https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Pacific_Police_Serv....

It is crazy here, what can I tell ya ;-)

Re: Train burglaries in LA

#57

Soft on crime policies like restorative justice simply attract crime. No consequences means no deterrent. It’s not surprising this happens in LA - George Gascon is the DA and he’s facing increasing support for his recall ( https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/liberal-beverly-hill... ).

This is not LAPD responsibility, and the HQ of the responsible force is in Omaha Nebraska.

It's still a consequence of general lack of policing or soft policing. Whether this is LAPDs responsibility or not, the overall society and its view on crime like this is a huge component to this occurring. We can't have nice things if people are just going around and stealing because "hey it doesn't hurt anyone".

Re: Train burglaries in LA

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Any resourced I thought we all rooted here to defund the police? Should we backtrack that idea? Edit: I seem to have broken a nerve in some people here. Sorry, for being snarky. I just think that you can't reduce funding for a gov agency but also then expect it to be resourced. Just using sterile logic to make this conclusion.

LAPD funding went _up_ 12% during and after the George Floyd protests (The highest it's ever been! The highest in the country per capita!). In fact, LASD/public schools got a cut in funding to help fund the LAPD budget. Granted, per the article, LAPD doesn't service freight rail lines, maybe because they'd say they'd be stretched too thin – and to be fair, 800+ of them are on leave for COVID, and falsely blaming it o…

I am talking in general, not specifically about LAPD. There seems to be a rude awakening, where I live: https://www.npr.org/2021/12/11/1063408465/oakland-city-counc...

> The city council voted last summer to redirect money proposed for Oakland's Police Department to social services. But this week, defund the police became refund to the police. The same city council approved two new police academies and voted to hire a professional recruiter to attract officers to its department after a wave of resignations.

Re: Train burglaries in LA

#59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Railroad police are certified state law enforcement officers with investigative and arrest powers both on and off railroad property in most states. They also have interstate law enforcement authority pursuant to federal law. > The railroad police force dates to the mid-1800s, when the number of U.S. Marshals was insufficient to police America's growing rail network. Members were called Pinkertons, named after their…

Thanks for that. We have railroad police here in Australia as well, however it's all state government sponsored, I just hadn't heard of private enterprise funding police before.

We have them at colleges too. Sometimes you want full time real police who can send people to jail. I guess it depends on the environment and scale of crime to determine whether it's needed. If it is, then it may make sense to have the impacted business pay for it. Otherwise the city might not be able to commit enough resources.

Re: Train burglaries in LA

#60
post #12

Sigh - Any resourced and competent police or security force should be able to catch or deter thieves that are stealing packages from the same location . Additionally, mail theft laws which include prison as a consequence should be extended to package thefts if they don't already cover them.

> Any resourced I thought we all rooted here to defund the police? Should we backtrack that idea? Edit: I seem to have broken a nerve in some people here. Sorry, for being snarky. I just think that you can't reduce funding for a gov agency but also then expect it to be resourced. Just using sterile logic to make this conclusion.

The actual responsible enforcement agency is in Omaha Nebraska, whereas the LAPD has had increased funding through the years.
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