2 ms·

Property crimes are not punished in California and the problem is acute when Gun ownership is also discouraged. While techies in bay area might only see an occa

Property crimes are not punished in California and the problem is acute when Gun ownership is also discouraged. While techies in bay area might only see an occasional car break-ins or theft the problem in Central and northern California is of theft of copper wires, fence wires, illegal dumping etc. I worked with lot of self help groups in California and learned that the cops and prosecutors would rather go after soft targets than real criminals. For example catching those kids stealing $1000 worth of stuff from store requires a cop to run after them fight with those kids (which sometimes might turn fatal). The cop would rather catch a normal kid in wrong place at wrong time because that kid will not fight back. While compassionate criminal justice reform is needed I think we should also pay attention to the fact that law obedience does not wither away.

ergothus 8y ago
> The cop would rather catch a normal kid in wrong place at wrong time because that kid will not fight back. That sounds like a real problem to fix - incentivizing our law enforcement to go after "easy" targets does not create the sort of society I want to be in. I don't see how increasing sentences helps change this (if the sentences are being selectively applied anyway), and gun ownership is likewise orthogonal (shooting "easy" targets doesn't sound better, nor does encouraging vigilantism, which you did NOT suggest, but is a logical conclusion if law enforcement isn't doing their job). Any ideas on how to improve the equal application of law enforcement?
- Janeman544 8y ago
  By Gun ownership I meant people protecting their own property from other people who might use force to steal away or damage the property. I do not mean shooting people dead but the mere indication that store/farm owner might be armed deters potential thieves away. I agree with you on everything you have said but the real issue is with the American people who get scared easily and act as if anyone branded as criminal should be treated as animal. For example people think it is great if people are forever locked, raped in jail, disallowed to work etc. because "they are bad people". To change that mindset we need to build far better communities. I feel we should break up larger metropolitan areas into several smaller ones and force people to actively participate in the governance instead of relying on a hate mongering politician who turns up every few years promising to lock up the bad guys.

ergothus 8y ago

> The cop would rather catch a normal kid in wrong place at wrong time because that kid will not fight back. That sounds like a real problem to fix - incentivizing our law enforcement to go after "easy" targets does not create the sort of society I want to be in. I don't see how increasing sentences helps change this (if the sentences are being selectively applied anyway), and gun ownership is likewise orthogonal (shooting "easy" targets doesn't sound better, nor does encouraging vigilantism, which you did NOT suggest, but is a logical conclusion if law enforcement isn't doing their job). Any ideas on how to improve the equal application of law enforcement?

Janeman544 8y ago
By Gun ownership I meant people protecting their own property from other people who might use force to steal away or damage the property. I do not mean shooting people dead but the mere indication that store/farm owner might be armed deters potential thieves away. I agree with you on everything you have said but the real issue is with the American people who get scared easily and act as if anyone branded as criminal should be treated as animal. For example people think it is great if people are forever locked, raped in jail, disallowed to work etc. because "they are bad people". To change that mindset we need to build far better communities. I feel we should break up larger metropolitan areas into several smaller ones and force people to actively participate in the governance instead of relying on a hate mongering politician who turns up every few years promising to lock up the bad guys.