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They are. They're choosing the rational response when balancing a low-risk, high-reward activity such as bicycle theft.
by na85 11y ago
They are.
They're choosing the rational response when balancing a low-risk, high-reward activity such as bicycle theft.
- x0x0 11y agoAnd yet... A friend was walking in soma watching a video on his iphone. He noticed someone peering over his shoulder; the dude grabbed the iphone and took off. My friend chased him, and this is where it gets interesting. The thief, instead of outrunning my friend and/or just dropping the phone, punched my friend. My friend plus a bystander who saw the punch ended up chasing the thief down. SF police don't give a fuck less about a stolen iphone, but that punch? The thief is doing 2-4 years.
- lostlogin 11y agoThis isn't a good thing - even if the thief serves half that there is no scenario where that outcome is a net benefit to society. However this view of mine may be venturing too far into politics.
- steve19 11y agoI think it's good that as a society we do not lock people up for years for stealing a phone. But I would love to hear from you what we should do of the people who commit assault? What is a woman was punched? or a minority (because they were a minority)? Do you honestly believe that prison for assault does not deter would be assaulters?
- lostlogin 11y agoWhat does 4 years in prison create? Is he going to be fixed when he comes out and never do anything bad again?
- PKop 11y agoThis attitude basically concedes to accepting theft as inevitable, treating this type of crime as something that cannot be avoided. Crime needs to be punished and deterred. An argument can be made that communities where property crime is rampant are not using effective measures to deter criminals. Imagine how many fewer bike thefts there would be if, for example, Seattle put in place caning as a punishment, like in Singapore. This could replace long term prison sentences while also being severe enough to scare would be criminals. What's your solution to decreasing rate of thefts, if not prison?
- lostlogin 11y agoWhy is the person stealing? Treat that problem rather than just punish the action. I'm not saying that there should be no punishment, just that long sentences achieve little. I don't think many people would call the US justice system a great success, so what's the harm in trying something a little different?
- x0x0 11y agoI support that for nonviolent crime, but when you assault someone, we should aggressively punish. The police and DA were pretty clear: if the dude had just dropped the phone, they wouldn't have had any interest.
- omginternets 11y agoThey are, sometimes. Other times they're strung out and looking for a fix. A bike takes 5 minutes to steal and they know where they can pawn it for crack. You can't assume you're dealing with rational agents. When you're actively looking for bike thieves, you're going to run into an irrational one fairly often.