Wednesday, February 4, 2009

A Good Question

What happens to all the stuff those car-break-in thieves steal?
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You can hardly go into a bar in Baltimore or the surrounding area now without some douchebag walking up to and wanting to sell you a watch or flat panel televsion! You just KNOW it's hot, why else sell it at a bar. I had a kid who looked like he was high out of his mind try to sell me a watch one night that could've easily been worth about $5,000 and all he wanted was $100!!! I didn't buy it though because if I did, we'd only be encouraging that behavior.

Fri Feb 06, 11:32:00 AM EST
ppatin said...

The problem is that penalties simply aren't severe enough. These guys know that the vast majority of the time they won't get caught, and if they do then it'll probably be nol-prossed, and even if it's not they'll get a slap on the wrist. We need to bring back punishments like flogging and the pillory and use them on first-time offenders. If you punish people harshly enough they'll eventually start behaving.

Fri Feb 06, 11:43:00 AM EST
buzoncrime said...

qu1---it's exactly my point that there seems to be no effort to put a stop to this stuff about selling stolen goods on the street or out of trunks of cars. Of course, it would often be legally impossible to prove whether or where it was stolen from, but it would only take a few cases. Plus bars which put up with this nonsense on their premises could face liquor board sanctions. Persons selling on the street without a license could be arrested, which would lead to a search of their person, and perhaps more evidence.

PP--I know the idea of progressive punishment is the theory, but this is too often the inculcation that "nothing happens", particularly in the juvenile system, when first offenders become multiple offenders.
Of course, one of the other issues is that the courts in the city are overwhelmed, as is the prison system, and the state is broke: please don't send us more criminals--we're running out of room and budget. Um, I don't see flogging coming back anytime soon, though we often viscerally wish it for certain thuggie-wuggies.

Fri Feb 06, 04:09:00 PM EST

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