ATTENTION: A guide to reducing crime in Puna.

[Vaedrem]

Originally Posted by Paddywagons

I don't know jack sh**

When I was in Hilo dining at a low-key sidewalk cafe, I witnessed obvious meth-heads panhandling customers for drug money - and some naively gave them money! The owner said nothing to discourage them; I don't know if he was fearful of retaliation or just didn't grasp that doing nothing would only invite their return and on and on. If he or anybody called the police, would they have come and checked them for drugs and warrants, I think so. They would then be trespassed from the property with the threat of arrest if they returned after the official warning. It's at least doing something. But we were all too busy - and guess who was on that "too busy" list - little old me with all the advice for others! I felt guilty that I didn't make that call. I did though tell the 2 meth-heads to get lost and they did sheepishly. I also made a couple of other calls to the police while there on some other meth-heads I saw congregating suspiciously. I guess I was doing penance!

Drug addicts are not automatically criminals, they people with a medical problem who should be helped, not harassed by people who don't know jack sh** and don't even live here yet but want to be able to decide who should be in the community, and who shouldn't. Furthermore, people who are homeless are not automatically criminals and you don't know just by looking at them if they use drugs or will use the money they get panhandling for drugs. This sort of ignorant, self-righteous 1950's suburbia attitude of yours is what needs to get lost from the BI. I hope you get arrested for wasting the police's time when there are real crimes, like rape, to be adressed. Gentrification is BS, and just moves the effects of poverty somewhere else.