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"Stealing cars is harder than it used to be, less lucrative and more likely to land you in jail. As such, people have found other things to do." Interesting. I
by praptak 12y ago
"Stealing cars is harder than it used to be, less lucrative and more likely to land you in jail. As such, people have found other things to do."
Interesting. I wonder if there are any studies on what the other things are. What do perpetrators do when the crime they specialize in no longer pays?
- antocv 12y agoSending spam and scam mails?
- baddox 12y agoI doubt most people desire being a criminal as an end in itself. Presumably car thieves either went onto the next best job, whether that be a crime (where "best" considers costs, like the risk of being punished, and benefits), or a legal job.
- lmm 12y agoOr stayed at home and claimed unemployment, if the marginal gain from working ceased to be worth the cost.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- riffraff 12y agomaybe it's not much that people change jobs as much as new people that don't pick up the trade? I.e. you never start stealing cars cause it doesn't seem as lucrative and is riskier than just selling drugs.
- adventured 12y agoMost types of crime have declined meaningfully in the last 25 years. The only segment I can think of that might have picked up some of those former car thieves, would be the drug trade (from pot to pharmaceuticals), as it did not see a decline.
- Cthulhu_ 12y agoWith recent legalization of weed, I'd be interested to see what happens to those figures. At the very least I'd expect to see a lot less people getting arrested for having small amounts of weed on them. (note: I watch Cops, main source of information there. Not sure if elderly bearded dudes wearing schoolgirl outfits for giving up fake names is representative of the US though).
- louhike 12y agoThey might specialize in other drugs like cocain, heroin, MDMA, etc. This kind of drugs may never be legalized and there will probably still be people buying it. But it might harder to enter in this market as people selling it are often quite organized and violents (apart maybe the last seller on the chain).
- cafard 12y agoSome of it weren't in it for the profit. One of our cars was stolen some years ago, and found the next day a few miles away. I believe that it was some dirtbags who wanted to get home without hailing a taxi or walking.