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As was already said, professional car thieves would see through this trick from a mile away. The guys they catch on bait car are just typical street thugs or people interested in a crime of opportunity. Highly doubtful that a car theft ring would get busted this way. Highly, highly doubtful.
And you've investigated how many cases like this? It's more common than you would believe. Unless we are talking organized Eastern European theft rings, often times it's the little fish stealing for the bigger fish. Much like drug sales. The big fish likes the buffer of the little fish doing the work. But who cares if these are "petty" criminals, the fact of the matter is your car is more likely to get taken by the street thug not the Russian Mafia. Screw these little scumbags and let them hopefully go to jail. Street thugs have a far bigger impact on our daily quality of life than any large organizer ring. In my book thieves are one notch below murderers and pedophiles in terms of being worthless.
And you've investigated how many cases like this? It's more common than you would believe. Unless we are talking organized Eastern European theft rings, often times it's the little fish stealing for the bigger fish. Much like drug sales. The big fish likes the buffer of the little fish doing the work. But who cares if these are "petty" criminals, the fact of the matter is your car is more likely to get taken by the street thug not the Russian Mafia. Screw these little scumbags and let them hopefully go to jail. Street thugs have a far bigger impact on our daily quality of life than any large organizer ring. In my book thieves are one notch below murderers and pedophiles in terms of being worthless.
And you've investigated how many cases like this? It's more common than you would believe. Unless we are talking organized Eastern European theft rings, often times it's the little fish stealing for the bigger fish. Much like drug sales. The big fish likes the buffer of the little fish doing the work. But who cares if these are "petty" criminals, the fact of the matter is your car is more likely to get taken by the street thug not the Russian Mafia. Screw these little scumbags and let them hopefully go to jail. Street thugs have a far bigger impact on our daily quality of life than any large organizer ring. In my book thieves are one notch below murderers and pedophiles in terms of being worthless.
You continue to ignore everyone who says that arresting the petty criminal, the "front line" guy, does little or nothing to stop the actual problem. You arrest the petty car thief, there's another one to replace him tomorrow. You arrest the petty crack dealer, there will be another on the corner within the hour.
With that strategy all you have accomplished is to crowd the criminal justice system with low-level criminals, but you've done nothing to stop crime.
The world is made up of petty criminals as the vast majority and the "big fish" is the vast majority. What's your plan then, let the petty criminal go unchallenged and let them multiply like rabbits. You say you take one off the street and one is ready to take his place. Wrong! That one was always there. It's like exterminating roaches. You can squash a few and there will always be some left, but if you don't start squashing the house will be fully infested. So what's your solution then? If your claim is this does nothing? Let them all go and have their way with society. That way they can become more and more brazen? The car thief of today becomes the armed robber of tomorrow because he's never been put in check and wants a bigger score. 9 out of 10 crimes committed out there is not from some large highly orchestrated rings. And most of these rings are not concerned with the average guys property. They are stealing cargo containers and semi trailers of merchandise. The guy that holds you up on the street corner or that carjacks you is the low level street scum. So let them run wild because they are just "petty" criminals is the solution then?
The world is made up of petty criminals as the vast majority and the "big fish" is the vast majority. What's your plan then, let the petty criminal go unchallenged and let them multiply like rabbits. You say you take one off the street and one is ready to take his place. Wrong! That one was always there. It's like exterminating roaches. You can squash a few and there will always be some left, but if you don't start squashing the house will be fully infested. So what's your solution then? If your claim is this does nothing? Let them all go and have their way with society. That way they can become more and more brazen? The car thief of today becomes the armed robber of tomorrow because he's never been put in check and wants a bigger score. 9 out of 10 crimes committed out there is not from some large highly orchestrated rings. And most of these rings are not concerned with the average guys property. They are stealing cargo containers and semi trailers of merchandise. The guy that holds you up on the street corner or that carjacks you is the low level street scum. So let them run wild because they are just "petty" criminals is the solution then?
Your "roach" analogy is fitting, in that you can't fight a roach problem by simply squashing the ones you see. You can squash all day and won't make a dent. You could hire a team of people to squash, and you still won't make a dent but now you have to pay this group of people to stand in your house squashing roaches. And yet you still have a roach problem.
What you need is an exterminator to kill the root cause. And you need to stop leaving food out.
Out of all countries, the USA already has one of the largest percentages of its population under control of the criminal justice system (2% or so?). Yet we still perceive that we have a crime problem. So is your solution to continue adding street cops, building prisons, expanding the judicial system, until we have 4% or 10% of our population in prison? Is that your solution? And when the politician in charge tells you what it will cost to pay for this, what will your response be?
We're scared to go after high-level criminals, and we don't want to make changes in our society that would benefit people and turn them away from making a decision to be a criminal. High-level criminals aren't just going to sit back and be arrested, they will fight back (see what's happening in Mexico, where cops and politicians routinely get murdered). The USA doesn't have the stones for that kind of battle.
And tell me why the public school on the West Side of Chicago doesn't look like the public school in Wilmette, why they don't have the same resources, same skilled teachers, etc. After all they are both public schools, aren't they? Resolve those types of inequities, and maybe kids won't see crime as a viable alternative.
Oh I see. You are a believer that throwing money at a social problem with also fix it. There's a reason why those 2 schools won't look the same. In Wilmette they are paying MUCH higher taxes to receive superior service. I bet Wilmette residents pay 12 times the property tax of those living on the West Side. Second the Wilmette students I'm sure are much less likely to be in gangs, cutting class, into drug and violence and overall being disruptive to education. Sure, this inequality can be solved, the West Side now has to pay $12,000 a year in property tax, problem solved. No matter it be material items, services or education, chances are the more money the higher the services will be. This is just economical common sense. But often times more money is spent on each students education in CPS than what is spent on the average student in a middle class Catholic School. But why do the kids in the private school excel? Oh yeah, because both the parents and student want success. You can't always blame the system, this is an issue of values within family units, or the lack there of.
Oh I see. You are a believer that throwing money at a social problem with also fix it. There's a reason why those 2 schools won't look the same. In Wilmette they are paying MUCH higher taxes to receive superior service. I bet Wilmette residents pay 12 times the property tax of those living on the West Side. Second the Wilmette students I'm sure are much less likely to be in gangs, cutting class, into drug and violence and overall being disruptive to education. Sure, this inequality can be solved, the West Side now has to pay $12,000 a year in property tax, problem solved. No matter it be material items, services or education, chances are the more money the higher the services will be. This is just economical common sense. But often times more money is spent on each students education in CPS than what is spent on the average student in a middle class Catholic School. But why do the kids in the private school excel? Oh yeah, because both the parents and student want success. You can't always blame the system, this is an issue of values within family units, or the lack there of.
Oh I see. You are a believer that throwing money at a social problem with also fix it. There's a reason why those 2 schools won't look the same. In Wilmette they are paying MUCH higher taxes to receive superior service. I bet Wilmette residents pay 12 times the property tax of those living on the West Side. Second the Wilmette students I'm sure are much less likely to be in gangs, cutting class, into drug and violence and overall being disruptive to education. Sure, this inequality can be solved, the West Side now has to pay $12,000 a year in property tax, problem solved. No matter it be material items, services or education, chances are the more money the higher the services will be. This is just economical common sense. But often times more money is spent on each students education in CPS than what is spent on the average student in a middle class Catholic School. But why do the kids in the private school excel? Oh yeah, because both the parents and student want success. You can't always blame the system, this is an issue of values within family units, or the lack there of.
You start off by saying "I believe that throwing money at a problem will also fix it." Hmm, if money doesn't fix problems, then all those people in Wilmette paying $12000 per year property tax are fool, correct? They should pay much less ($5000 per year) and expect similar or even better results, right?
When I see that happen I will eat my hat... People in Wilmette, Naperville, whatever have no problem with "throwing money" at their own kids' public schools, while complaining when someone from the West Side calls out the discrepancy.
Should living in a rich town (more property tax) automatically entitle you to a better PUBLIC school than if you live in a poor area (less property tax)? The people in the poor area also work, also pay taxes, and expect their kids to be able to go somewhere safe, clean, and inspiring, just like people in Wilmette. Remember, we're talking PUBLIC schools here - if someone wants to send their kids to a private school and spend $25000 per year, I'm all for it.
Imagine if people with more money got better roads - a set of roads which were always in better condition, with no traffic, and only those with household incomes above $150,000 could use them. We would flip out if the State of IL tried to implement such a system. Yet we accept similar when it comes to PUBLIC schools.
Property Tax is the most unfair system I ever could have imagined for funding public schools.
You continue to ignore everyone who says that arresting the petty criminal, the "front line" guy, does little or nothing to stop the actual problem. You arrest the petty car thief, there's another one to replace him tomorrow. You arrest the petty crack dealer, there will be another on the corner within the hour.
With that strategy all you have accomplished is to crowd the criminal justice system with low-level criminals, but you've done nothing to stop crime.
What do you think crime really is? Do you think of crime as some sort of large organization, where there's a limited number of available positions that get filled as soon as they become vacant, while at the same time the pool of potential workers is unlimited? Fire one worker and a new one is immediately ready to step in place of the old one?
It doesn't work like this. Mental cases aside, there are people who are consciously willing to take liberties with other people's property and lives, but our population is not made up of 100% of such people.
Pretend there are 10 people in the room: 9 are law-abiding, while one is not and will be robbing the rest of them shortly unless we do something. We decide to take that bad person out of the room, effectively eliminating all potential crime. But according to your logic one of the nine remaining and previously non-violent people is going to take the place of the criminal and try to rob the rest of the group. It's a fallacy.
There won't be any crime if those capable of committing it are: a) behind bars or b) choose not to commit it if they are certain they won't get away with it (in this case the punishment must also outweigh the gain). So yeah, getting criminals off the streets and into prisons does stop crime. May not be the most effective way but it works nonetheless.
Jackson you must compare apples to apples with school districts. Basically CPS and Wilmette will never be the same system no matter if the money was completely equal or not. Why don't you see that? Wilmette obviously must have a system that works and is successful. The residents pay high taxes, can attract good teachers, by and large the student body is well behaved and law abidding, parents are employd and actively engaged in their children's education. Should they feel bad if they are socially and economically successful? You can't compare CPS to other school districts and claim it's not fair when maybe it's the other school district is just more successful.
It's like saying you don't understand why Apple is successful but Company X isn't and this is unfair. Well just maybe it's because Apple is successful for numerous reasons and Company X has lazy employees, sells a product no one wants and is 10 years behind in technology. It's like anything in life, you get what you pay for. Spam won't taste like Filet Mignon. A Kia won't drive like a Mercedes. No name shoes won't feel like Nikes. Schools and education are no different. But here's the thing, all items above will function properly but will not be as exciting as the higher priced item. It's up to the USER to get the most out of the product they have and not just discard it.
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