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You make a good point, and I elided any discussion of the prison system (in the U.S., at least) to make my comment brief. I agree with you that we should be wo

You make a good point, and I elided any discussion of the prison system (in the U.S., at least) to make my comment brief. I agree with you that we should be working on the root causes of crime too, and personally I'd rather see a more reformation based prison system in the U.S. than our current punishment/deterrent based system. Thing is, I'm not sure they all do it out of desperation. One incidence in the neighborhood was most certainly an addict, for which I agree with your point in helping them. But a more salient example is a group of professional thieves that stole a local plumber's truck and tools. If you're down on your luck and for whatever reason have to resort to looting houses and cars, I can see your point. But if someone has made it their _job_ to steal my neighbor's livelihood? My sympathy runs out.

anarchodev 7y ago
For sure, I understand where you're coming from. There are certainly instances of this type of crime that aren't defensible under any pretext rooted in economic oppression. I don't have all the answers, just my perspective. Consider that once you invite the cops into your neighborhood though, they operate on their own biases, regardless of whether or not they think it's worth it to track down whoever stole the stereo out of your sedan. Car prowl is only the pretense for them to show up, and once they do their presence will be detrimental for the "addict" population. So you're maybe not punishing who you think you are.
- CompanionCuuube 7y ago
  That's a rather strong case for taking the law into our own hands, rather than essentially subcontracting it out to someone who you effectively don't have management power over. Putting trust in myself and my neighbors rather than police seems to be a better solution especially if the police aren't really residents of the specific neighborhood.

anarchodev 7y ago

For sure, I understand where you're coming from. There are certainly instances of this type of crime that aren't defensible under any pretext rooted in economic oppression. I don't have all the answers, just my perspective. Consider that once you invite the cops into your neighborhood though, they operate on their own biases, regardless of whether or not they think it's worth it to track down whoever stole the stereo out of your sedan. Car prowl is only the pretense for them to show up, and once they do their presence will be detrimental for the "addict" population. So you're maybe not punishing who you think you are.

CompanionCuuube 7y ago
That's a rather strong case for taking the law into our own hands, rather than essentially subcontracting it out to someone who you effectively don't have management power over. Putting trust in myself and my neighbors rather than police seems to be a better solution especially if the police aren't really residents of the specific neighborhood.