Kickin' Criminal Ass 2
Some additional thoughts....Malcolm Gladwell's take on spiking crime as an epidemic is interesting. It says that there's a small pool of criminals who commit most of our crime. However, if the circumstances (he uses the term 'context') are right, that pool of criminals can expand and create crime waves. It's not without controversy but it seems legit to me.
I'll give you an example. Copycat crimes. Why are there copycat crimes? It's because someone who wouldn't have ordinarily done that particular crime saw it committed and saw the perpetrator get away with it. People copycat successful crimes, not failed ones. If a school is broken into and a bunch of computers are taken by a small group of thieves, another small group of people, who maybe are on the cusp of good citizen/criminal activity, might be motivated to knock over a school to seize computers. They figure that if its that easy, they too could get away with it.
The broken windows theory is easy to see in practice. I've seen it. Maybe you've seen it. On my street in a neglected area of the city (back when I lived there), there was an old abandoned car. Days later, the tires had been flattened. Then the windshield broken. Then the other windows broken. Then it was set on fire. This took place over the course of weeks. You take this same car and park it in Gold River and it's getting called in and towed away before it ever is torched. When criminals or would be criminals see that a neighborhood and police don't seem to care or respond, it sends signals to them that neighbors aren't watching out for neighbors....that they could probably vandalize a house or rip off a house and no one will call the police. Even if they do call, the police will be slow to respond.
If you let an entire city get this way..or enough of a city...the city can get the reputation that it can be 'had.' And you will invite predators from neighboring communities into your community. Even animals know this. If a wolf is overlooking a flock of unprotected sheep, he'll go get one to eat. But if he's overlooking a flock of sheep guarded by two guard dogs and a man with a gun, he's going to go elsewhere where the cost of getting a meal isn't so high.
For years there were crimes that we didn't think were a big deal. Vandalism and graffiti are misdemeanors. We usually dismiss them as childish activities. But frequently they're the harbinger of future trouble. Loitering seems like a harmless 'crime.' But a group of kids loitering after hours in a park, especially if you add alcohol, can be up to no good. How many food drives, blood drives and community cleanup efforts arise from a group of men standing around drinking beer? Not many.
Often preventing minor crimes prevent larger ones later on. This is the way law enforcement works. You don't see cops busting serial killers, bank robbers, burglars etc.. in the act. It's almost always some minor routine thing that trips them off. A traffic stop. Drunk in public. Shoplifting. Criminals who commit felonies pretty easily commit misdemeanors. A guy who makes money robbing liquor stores is probably not going to be responsible enough to register his car. You see where I'm going? Little things mean a lot to law enforcement.
Rousting the homeless gets liberal dander up...but let's keep it real. The criminal element often exploits this population and sometimes uses it for cover. Homeless victims aren't likely to report crime. And homeless people, sane homeless people, aren't bad sources of information in the fight either.
Fairfield has a new Police Chief, Kenton Rainey. I've seen letter writers write in and criticize him from the start. The latest was a letter in the Vacaville paper saying that Rainey doesn't need a deputy police chief. Hey, I'm going to paraphrase the Tuna, Coach Bill Parcells. He said, "If you want me to cook you dinner, then you have to let me shop for the groceries." And what he's saying is he needs that creative control at the top. He needs to assemble his team, not just coach it. And Rainey nee
ds to be able to put into plece the personnel and strategies he deems necessary to fight crime. The brotha hasn't even got started good and already they're trying to tear him down.
Yeah, I said it...the 'brotha'. Fairfield has a black police chief for the first time. Will it make a difference in law enforcement? Well, I hope he makes a difference but it won't be because of his color. I note it just because, as a first, it needs to be noted. But I want him to do well, not just as a black man in a position where he could be an effective role model, but as a good strong police chief that turns the corner on the gangs and violence in Fairfield.
'Nuff said.
I'll give you an example. Copycat crimes. Why are there copycat crimes? It's because someone who wouldn't have ordinarily done that particular crime saw it committed and saw the perpetrator get away with it. People copycat successful crimes, not failed ones. If a school is broken into and a bunch of computers are taken by a small group of thieves, another small group of people, who maybe are on the cusp of good citizen/criminal activity, might be motivated to knock over a school to seize computers. They figure that if its that easy, they too could get away with it.
The broken windows theory is easy to see in practice. I've seen it. Maybe you've seen it. On my street in a neglected area of the city (back when I lived there), there was an old abandoned car. Days later, the tires had been flattened. Then the windshield broken. Then the other windows broken. Then it was set on fire. This took place over the course of weeks. You take this same car and park it in Gold River and it's getting called in and towed away before it ever is torched. When criminals or would be criminals see that a neighborhood and police don't seem to care or respond, it sends signals to them that neighbors aren't watching out for neighbors....that they could probably vandalize a house or rip off a house and no one will call the police. Even if they do call, the police will be slow to respond.
If you let an entire city get this way..or enough of a city...the city can get the reputation that it can be 'had.' And you will invite predators from neighboring communities into your community. Even animals know this. If a wolf is overlooking a flock of unprotected sheep, he'll go get one to eat. But if he's overlooking a flock of sheep guarded by two guard dogs and a man with a gun, he's going to go elsewhere where the cost of getting a meal isn't so high.
For years there were crimes that we didn't think were a big deal. Vandalism and graffiti are misdemeanors. We usually dismiss them as childish activities. But frequently they're the harbinger of future trouble. Loitering seems like a harmless 'crime.' But a group of kids loitering after hours in a park, especially if you add alcohol, can be up to no good. How many food drives, blood drives and community cleanup efforts arise from a group of men standing around drinking beer? Not many.
Often preventing minor crimes prevent larger ones later on. This is the way law enforcement works. You don't see cops busting serial killers, bank robbers, burglars etc.. in the act. It's almost always some minor routine thing that trips them off. A traffic stop. Drunk in public. Shoplifting. Criminals who commit felonies pretty easily commit misdemeanors. A guy who makes money robbing liquor stores is probably not going to be responsible enough to register his car. You see where I'm going? Little things mean a lot to law enforcement.
Rousting the homeless gets liberal dander up...but let's keep it real. The criminal element often exploits this population and sometimes uses it for cover. Homeless victims aren't likely to report crime. And homeless people, sane homeless people, aren't bad sources of information in the fight either.
Fairfield has a new Police Chief, Kenton Rainey. I've seen letter writers write in and criticize him from the start. The latest was a letter in the Vacaville paper saying that Rainey doesn't need a deputy police chief. Hey, I'm going to paraphrase the Tuna, Coach Bill Parcells. He said, "If you want me to cook you dinner, then you have to let me shop for the groceries." And what he's saying is he needs that creative control at the top. He needs to assemble his team, not just coach it. And Rainey nee
ds to be able to put into plece the personnel and strategies he deems necessary to fight crime. The brotha hasn't even got started good and already they're trying to tear him down.Yeah, I said it...the 'brotha'. Fairfield has a black police chief for the first time. Will it make a difference in law enforcement? Well, I hope he makes a difference but it won't be because of his color. I note it just because, as a first, it needs to be noted. But I want him to do well, not just as a black man in a position where he could be an effective role model, but as a good strong police chief that turns the corner on the gangs and violence in Fairfield.
'Nuff said.
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