Community Stories

With increased local armed robberies, I’m no longer wearing Rolexes

Pastorbottle
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JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
It’s not the sketchy parts of town that we need to worry about. If you get mugged there it was a crime of opportunity and you looked like a target (not victim blaming but we should always be conscious of how we appear depending on environment). It’s the tony parts of town where the thieves are actually targeting- where most people let their guard down and the pickings are rich for the criminals.
The criminals have become more emboldened and far more clever than in years past. They know most people won’t fight back so they have become more aggressive- and if you do fight back be prepared to lose since you don’t know what form of weapon they have.

They have also become more web savvy. They can scout social media to see who’s in their area flexing their new bling at a local restaurant for an Instagram post. It’s not that hard to piece together someone’s location by the bread crumbs they leave behind on the web.

We just need to be more vigilant about our privacy. I always wear long sleeve shirts (sleeves rolled up in the warmth months) but if I’m on public transit or in a crowded place- I make sure my sleeves are down and if I’m holding the grab bar on the train I am mindful that my watch is under my sleeve. I don’t do social media so that’s not a problem for me and my wife never posts anything on her socials about where she is (as a woman it’s a completely different concern of targeting than just watches).

The idea of common sense is not out of line- if you are advertising your wealth/good taste to others, be prepared to attract attention from everyone.

Well if someone is so insecure that they have to post every minute of their lives on social media in order to attract attention, it is with some irony that those very social media posts also attract unwanted attention that severely compromises their security!
I don't do social media, forums are as close as I get.

I don't care for crowds and tend to avoid them, I do like my personal space and the reason I dislike crowds is probably down to industrial deafness I cant hear anything properly in that I hear everything and can't isolate any one sound track, to the point that I couldn't understand you standing right next to me over every other bastard in the place.

I also don't do public transport, the problem is that it's that it's public......they let every bastard use it, I don't much like the great unwashed public, and would rather not be anywhere near them...I would much rather have a private train! 😁
 
0002s
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In an establishment you have a few options. Armed security. Appointment only. Two door, lock in to enter.

As a home owner. Insurance, Safe that can't be easily opened, mean dogs, ability to defend yourself and your property. Or, just give them your property and call it a day.

On the street. Stop looking and acting like prey. Learn to defend yourself in your method of choice. Practice the last sentence. Don't wear and enjoy your property in public. Or, just give them your property and call it a day.

Predators look for prey. They tend to hunt where prey is not guarded and abundant, and where the predator doesn't usually face consequences for hunting. They prefer to hunt where the prey does not have the ability to defend itself. Predators are opportunistic and will take the course of least resistance. Do hang out where predators like to hunt.
 
JwRosenthal
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0002s 0002s
In an establishment you have a few options. Armed security. Appointment only. Two door, lock in to enter.

As a home owner. Insurance, Safe that can't be easily opened, mean dogs, ability to defend yourself and your property. Or, just give them your property and call it a day.

On the street. Stop looking and acting like prey. Learn to defend yourself in your method of choice. Practice the last sentence. Don't wear and enjoy your property in public. Or, just give them your property and call it a day.

Predators look for prey. They tend to hunt where prey is not guarded and abundant, and where the predator doesn't usually face consequences for hunting. They prefer to hunt where the prey does not have the ability to defend itself. Predators are opportunistic and will take the course of least resistance. Do hang out where predators like to hunt.
When I was in college I was with an urban development professor surveying parts of town that had fallen into disrepair. As we were parking the car there was an open air drug dealer standing in front of a corner store about 15 feet away. I said we should move the car for fear that it would get broken into. He said no, this is the safest place to park. The dealer is conducting business and sure as hell won’t allow any shenanigans to happen on his block as to not draw unwanted attention. I later read Jane Jacobs and understood.
 
0002s
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JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
When I was in college I was with an urban development professor surveying parts of town that had fallen into disrepair. As we were parking the car there was an open air drug dealer standing in front of a corner store about 15 feet away. I said we should move the car for fear that it would get broken into. He said no, this is the safest place to park. The dealer is conducting business and sure as hell won’t allow any shenanigans to happen on his block as to not draw unwanted attention. I later read Jane Jacobs and understood.

Yes, unless the dealer wanted the car.
 
Doc Savage
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noelekal noelekal
Criminals understand the fear of retribution...
But not from the justice system. After 21 years in law enforcement, I can tell you that most criminals, especially thieves, do not fear prison. They realize their chances of getting arrested are small. Even if they are arrested, their chances of conviction are 50/50 (in general). And if they eventually are convicted, it's the price of doing business.

The above is the adult thief mindset. For youth criminals, they almost never think past next week. If they do, they are all convinced they'll get off with probation or a short juvie sentence (and they are usually correct).
 
pdxleaf
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Doc Savage Doc Savage
But not from the justice system. After 21 years in law enforcement, I can tell you that most criminals, especially thieves, do not fear prison. They realize their chances of getting arrested are small. Even if they are arrested, their chances of conviction are 50/50 (in general). And if they eventually are convicted, it's the price of doing business.

The above is the adult thief mindset. For youth criminals, they almost never think past next week. If they do, they are all convinced they'll get off with probation or a short juvie sentence (and they are usually correct).

Thanks for your service.

50 years ago 😲 I took a criminal justice college course. One of the few things I remember from it was that the death penalty didn't deter murder.

Regardless of whether a society wanted to implement it or not, if the stated goal was to stop murder, it wouldn't work because statistically most murders were spur of the moment and crimes of passion. The last thing they were thinking about was a consequence of their action.

Applying logic to illogical scenarios doesn't always work.
 
DaveK
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JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
When I was in college I was with an urban development professor surveying parts of town that had fallen into disrepair. As we were parking the car there was an open air drug dealer standing in front of a corner store about 15 feet away. I said we should move the car for fear that it would get broken into. He said no, this is the safest place to park. The dealer is conducting business and sure as hell won’t allow any shenanigans to happen on his block as to not draw unwanted attention. I later read Jane Jacobs and understood.

I used to live near Jane Jacob’s house when I was in Toronto. Everyone knew she was a treasure then, and there are still volunteer-run “Jane’s Walks” across Canada every year exploring what makes neighbourhoods and cities work.
 
noelekal
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We will have all the crime we are willing to tolerate.

We have devised our law to back our own silly selves into a corner! It shackles our effectiveness in fighting against crime in our society.

Recidivism is the gift that keeps on giving. Our society can stomach criminal depredation, can tolerate the misery suffered by ever increasing numbers of innocent victims, but can't abide the thought of effectively dealing with lawbreakers, all while "cruel and unusual" punishment is endlessly redefined downward.

We collectively have no "starch in our drawers." Our timorous bleating society has lost its "civilized" soul so it may as well lose its Rolexes!


“In fact, if law were restricted to protecting all persons, all liberties, and all properties; if law were nothing more than the organized combination of the individual's right to self-defense; if law were the obstacle, the check, the punisher of all oppression and plunder — is it likely that we citizens would then argue much about the extent of the franchise?”

Frédéric Bastiat
 
Pastorbottle
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Mind you that all depends on what they get locked up for, some places would lock you up for whistling on a Tuesday!
Those figures would be better if they were broken down into categories, such as trivial shit, serious bad shit and political shit etc.
 
gbesq
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Pastorbottle Pastorbottle
Mind you that all depends on what they get locked up for, some places would lock you up for whistling on a Tuesday!
Fair point, but among the world’s nations the U.S. figures prominently for its high rate of citizen incarceration which is at odds with the idea that we are excessively soft on crime.
 
pdxleaf
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Took this picture today in a park while walking the dog. No comment.

1000012433.jpg
 
gbesq
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Pastorbottle Pastorbottle
Mind you that all depends on what they get locked up for, some places would lock you up for whistling on a Tuesday!
Those figures would be better if they were broken down into categories, such as trivial shit, serious bad shit and political shit etc.
I have seen the data broken down and the vast majority of offenses that result in incarceration are for violent crimes and often involve guns, drugs and gang activity. Of course there are exceptions.
 
Davidt
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pdxleaf pdxleaf
Took this picture today in a park while walking the dog. No comment.

1000012433.jpg

Looks like the one on the right has dropped a spring bar
 
STANDY
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Davidt Davidt
Looks like the one on the right has dropped a spring bar
Yep that looks like a watch tinkerer kit on the bench next to him.
 
The Father
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Watch tinkererererer kits, the dead give away is always the foil paper. You can put all the wee parts in the foil. I have just realized within a half mile of my office there are dozens and dozens of watch enthusiasts
 
Watch my Whisky
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I wore my Mitsukoshi all across a high crime city in the US this week. The worst that happened was that I was told I look like George Clooney and also can I help get some breakfast.

Some of y’all be tripping.
 
RevZMan123
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gbesq gbesq
Fair point, but among the world’s nations the U.S. figures prominently for its high rate of citizen incarceration which is at odds with the idea that we are excessively soft on crime.

We locked up tons of kids and regular people for decades for simple marijuana possession ... though we're soft on white collar crime in general, we're only recently softened on the smaller economic crime that escalates through lack of enforcement and incarceration. We also keep people on death row for decades and decades, so there are people who have just been in jail for 40 or 50 years and then die.

There's no easy solution if nothing is a deterrent.

I know, what if we build this island and send them all there to be governed? What could go wrong?
 
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