8 ms·

Long tail distribution is true with A LOT of different crime categories, no? "A tiny number of drug-dealers commit thousands of NYC drug deals" "A tiny number

Long tail distribution is true with A LOT of different crime categories, no? "A tiny number of drug-dealers commit thousands of NYC drug deals" "A tiny number of vandals commit thousands of acts of NYC graffiti" What is this article supposed to be telling us?

rufus_foreman 4y ago
>> What is this article supposed to be telling us? Put a few people in jail and you can have nice things again?
- pclmulqdq 4y ago
  Other people will step up to fill the void. As long as the costs of crime are low and the rewards are high, people will do it. Crack down on Amazon for distribution of stolen goods and a lot of these convenience store thefts will stop.
  - colechristensen 4y ago
    But it’s not like the shoplifter job is full and arresting existing ones opens up a spot. More like there will be a continuous flux of people entering and leaving the habitual shoplifter role and to keep numbers low you have to keep enforcing.
    - pclmulqdq 4y ago
      To some degree, the shoplifter job is full like that. If these guys hit a few stores every week, those stores can't really be hit for the "good" stuff until the next week (or whenever they restock). There are only so many easy stores to hit. As I understand it, the shoplifting operations in big cities are actually pretty organized and have a constant flux of low-tier thieves, but a few ringleaders who set things up and really do shoplift for a living. It's not inconceivable that if one of these guys is a ringleader and gets arrested that someone will come "fill that position." If they are affiliated with organized crime, they may even have job interviews.
local_crmdgeon 4y ago
That if you jailed these 327 people, crime would fall dramatically, and particularly in the neighborhoods progressives claim to care about. That shopkeeper in the Bronx is not exactly Jamie Dimon. Society should try to protect him, and we _choose not to_.
- scyzoryk_xyz 4y ago
  For something like shoplifting imho counseling of these people would be the way to go for best pay-off. And then maybe long-term insight into what causes such pathology. Agreed though. A choice is being made to not go after the small stuff. The shopkeeper should have the full force of protection, even over a bag of chips.
  - mc32 4y ago
    Much of the high volume shoplifting is actually a business. They ae in it as a job to make money. I don't think counselling would work like it would on a kid who shoplifted some stogies and candy a couple of times.
    - Simulacra 4y ago
      Are they individuals or is it gangs?
    - sh34r 4y ago
      Stealing stuff and selling it through a fence is not a business. It’s organized crime. A racket. You could effectively argue drug dealers and bookies are running an illegal business, and I would not disagree. They sell (illegal) goods and services to willing participants. The fences (eBay and other co-conspirators) are running a business too. But shoplifting isn’t a business any more than muggings and “protection rackets” (give me a cut or I break your kneecap) are a business. It’s just violence.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
- 4y ago
HyperSane 4y ago
That jailing a very small number of naughty people would drastically reduce crime.
- dghlsakjg 4y ago
  I get that. The article doesn’t answer the question of why these laws aren’t enforced when it comes to prolific offenders. Shoplifting under $1k in NYC is punishable by a jail term of up to 1 year. The NYPD has a 5.5 billion dollar budget, and shoplifting is an absurdly easy crime to solve given that it almost always happens on camera. Prosecutors and judges aren’t going to catch heat for going after people with hundreds of offenses. The interesting story to me is, what is going on with the mountains of money being shoveled at police and courts?
  - tetromino_ 4y ago
    > The article doesn’t answer the question of why these laws aren’t enforced when it comes to prolific offenders. Here is an article that does: https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/manhattan-da-alvin-bragg-low-level-offenses/ https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/manhattan-da-alvin-brag...
  - sh34r 4y ago
    Cops don’t want to work anymore. Their fee-fees are hurt after the 2020 protests, so they’ve been doing a work slowdown. In a sane country, this would lead to mass layoffs and defunding of the police, but somehow the answer in this insane country is to reward the petulant children. Can you imagine any other profession refusing to work for three years and getting a raise for it? The police are a gang, running a city-wide protection racket. NYC voters even decided it’d be a great idea to put a made man in the mafia in the mayor’s office. That’ll fix crime alright! /s The pigs are eating all that slop in the trough, getting fatter and lazier. Why would anything change? They keep it up and they’ll get even richer! What kind of idiot rocks the boat when they have a $200k a year job where you can just play on your phone all day? Cops are scum.
    - meany 4y ago
black_13 4y ago
[dead]

rufus_foreman 4y ago

>> What is this article supposed to be telling us? Put a few people in jail and you can have nice things again?

pclmulqdq 4y ago
Other people will step up to fill the void. As long as the costs of crime are low and the rewards are high, people will do it. Crack down on Amazon for distribution of stolen goods and a lot of these convenience store thefts will stop.
- colechristensen 4y ago
  But it’s not like the shoplifter job is full and arresting existing ones opens up a spot. More like there will be a continuous flux of people entering and leaving the habitual shoplifter role and to keep numbers low you have to keep enforcing.
  - pclmulqdq 4y ago
    To some degree, the shoplifter job is full like that. If these guys hit a few stores every week, those stores can't really be hit for the "good" stuff until the next week (or whenever they restock). There are only so many easy stores to hit. As I understand it, the shoplifting operations in big cities are actually pretty organized and have a constant flux of low-tier thieves, but a few ringleaders who set things up and really do shoplift for a living. It's not inconceivable that if one of these guys is a ringleader and gets arrested that someone will come "fill that position." If they are affiliated with organized crime, they may even have job interviews.

local_crmdgeon 4y ago

That if you jailed these 327 people, crime would fall dramatically, and particularly in the neighborhoods progressives claim to care about. That shopkeeper in the Bronx is not exactly Jamie Dimon. Society should try to protect him, and we _choose not to_.

scyzoryk_xyz 4y ago
For something like shoplifting imho counseling of these people would be the way to go for best pay-off. And then maybe long-term insight into what causes such pathology. Agreed though. A choice is being made to not go after the small stuff. The shopkeeper should have the full force of protection, even over a bag of chips.
- mc32 4y ago
  Much of the high volume shoplifting is actually a business. They ae in it as a job to make money. I don't think counselling would work like it would on a kid who shoplifted some stogies and candy a couple of times.
  - Simulacra 4y ago
    Are they individuals or is it gangs?
  - sh34r 4y ago
    Stealing stuff and selling it through a fence is not a business. It’s organized crime. A racket. You could effectively argue drug dealers and bookies are running an illegal business, and I would not disagree. They sell (illegal) goods and services to willing participants. The fences (eBay and other co-conspirators) are running a business too. But shoplifting isn’t a business any more than muggings and “protection rackets” (give me a cut or I break your kneecap) are a business. It’s just violence.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
4y ago

HyperSane 4y ago

That jailing a very small number of naughty people would drastically reduce crime.

dghlsakjg 4y ago
I get that. The article doesn’t answer the question of why these laws aren’t enforced when it comes to prolific offenders. Shoplifting under $1k in NYC is punishable by a jail term of up to 1 year. The NYPD has a 5.5 billion dollar budget, and shoplifting is an absurdly easy crime to solve given that it almost always happens on camera. Prosecutors and judges aren’t going to catch heat for going after people with hundreds of offenses. The interesting story to me is, what is going on with the mountains of money being shoveled at police and courts?
- tetromino_ 4y ago
  > The article doesn’t answer the question of why these laws aren’t enforced when it comes to prolific offenders. Here is an article that does: https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/manhattan-da-alvin-bragg-low-level-offenses/ https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/manhattan-da-alvin-brag...
- sh34r 4y ago
  Cops don’t want to work anymore. Their fee-fees are hurt after the 2020 protests, so they’ve been doing a work slowdown. In a sane country, this would lead to mass layoffs and defunding of the police, but somehow the answer in this insane country is to reward the petulant children. Can you imagine any other profession refusing to work for three years and getting a raise for it? The police are a gang, running a city-wide protection racket. NYC voters even decided it’d be a great idea to put a made man in the mafia in the mayor’s office. That’ll fix crime alright! /s The pigs are eating all that slop in the trough, getting fatter and lazier. Why would anything change? They keep it up and they’ll get even richer! What kind of idiot rocks the boat when they have a $200k a year job where you can just play on your phone all day? Cops are scum.
  - meany 4y ago

black_13 4y ago

[dead]