Why is Washington's property crime rate so bad?

[cdelena]

Years ago I did an in depth review of two cities (different state) regarding property crime and concluded the difference was reporting and methodology differences. Can be a dramatic difference is stats but not necessarily in actual crime.

[wolfdog]

So can this thread now be closed, since we can no longer see the stats?

[Jay F]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

Small thefts of opportunity are drug fueled. Making pot legal does not make marijuana, meth, heroin free. Users might be free of legal prosecution, but they still must come up with the money to buy their drugs.

Meth is very closely tied to theft and burglary, and there are a lot of meth users in Washington, stealing to support their drug habit.

It's a shame that we don't crack down harder on meth users. This goes against what everyone else says but it makes me sad that the incarceration rate in the U.S is so low. Yes, I know it's high compared to most countries but our culture produces more scummy kind of people that need to be locked up including meth users. I wish our prison system was at least double the current size...If only we locked up more bad people we could bring our crime rate down to near zero and live in a near utopia.

[MechAndy]

Bottom line is that desperate people do desperate things.
It is that way every where.

Where I work the parking area is pretty secure.
No gates or anything security guards here it’s just well into our complex.
There are almost 200 people that work here.
Most leave there keys and wallets and items like that in there care because getting locked out after a long day with out you stuff really sucks.
Been here about 10 years and never heard of any theft or vandalism.
The thing is everyone gets paid well, very well, even for the Silicon Valley area.
Once people don’t have enough or do drugs then bad things happen .
Your mileage may vary.
Andy.

[WestGuest]

Property crime should be taken seriously and burglars should do prison time. In Texas and other places you can shoot prowlers in your home and that's a great law. OH yeah, I'm a Trump-hating Democrat, but not liberal about everything.

[Beaconowner]

Originally Posted by Jay F

It's a shame that we don't crack down harder on meth users. This goes against what everyone else says but it makes me sad that the incarceration rate in the U.S is so low. Yes, I know it's high compared to most countries but our culture produces more scummy kind of people that need to be locked up including meth users. I wish our prison system was at least double the current size...If only we locked up more bad people we could bring our crime rate down to near zero and live in a near utopia.

Yes, because giving drug users long prison sentences will actually help their drug problem? You do realize that you can get drugs in prison right? You also realize that unless you give them a life sentence they are going to be right back in the community, YOUR COMMUNITY, as soon as they get out? Only now they are pissed off at society, have no skills, have a record and so can't get a job, or housing, so back to crime they will go, right?

California tried to build there way out of their crime problem. The spent billions. It didn't work. What they got out of that experiment is one of the largest and most powerful prison guard unions that now can influence politics in the state.

The only thing that has worked with drug addiction is legalize, tax, and regulate. Treating drug addition as a crime instead of a medical issue will just spend lots of money to no effect, just like the DEA has been doing all these years. If their "success" rate was equal to a company in the private sector they would have gone bankrupt long ago, but instead our government keeps funding the losers so they can say they are tough on crime.

[notnamed]

Originally Posted by WestGuest

Property crime should be taken seriously and burglars should do prison time. In Texas and other places you can shoot prowlers in your home and that's a great law. OH yeah, I'm a Trump-hating Democrat, but not liberal about everything.

WA also effectively has castle doctrine. No duty to retreat from your home and you can use lethal force to defend yourself from a felony(which burglary is).
RCW 9A.16.050: Homicide
http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9A.52.025

[Diana Holbrook]

Originally Posted by Beaconowner

The only thing that has worked with drug addiction is legalize, tax, and regulate. Treating drug addition as a crime instead of a medical issue will just spend lots of money to no effect, just like the DEA has been doing all these years. If their "success" rate was equal to a company in the private sector they would have gone bankrupt long ago, but instead our government keeps funding the losers so they can say they are tough on crime.

First of all, the thread is about "property crime" - I have no interest in turning theft into a medical condition. Property crimes SHOULD be treated as serious crimes.

I'm ambivalent about how to treat addiction... But THEFT there is no forgiveness for, from me.

If legalizing and regulating drugs is the solution, we wouldn't have an epidemic of prescription drug abuse in this country (not just Washington!). I am afraid the cause of the problem is human nature and human weakness. Some will always fall short.

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Simple-no deterrent to criminals. WA has a revolving door "justice" system where criminals are just turned loose time after time to continue to prey on innocent victims. Most criminals you read about have a rap sheet that is pages long and have served only minimal prison time. Why wouldn't they continue to commit crime-they have never suffered any meaningful consequences.

There was a case a few years ago in Spokane where a car thief was shot in the act, by the car owner. It came out that he had been arrested 17 times previously for car theft. Guess what-when taken to trial the jury found the victim not guilty for assisting the criminal in assuming ambient temperature. The citizens (aka victims) have had enough-but sadly WA's legal system is dictated by the West side.

WA is far from the only state with this issue-Idaho is sadly far too lenient on crime as well.