Dumb criminals

[Blue]

USA Today quote:

Friday, May 17
Savannah - A teenager drove a stolen car to a police station and was arrested on the spot, police said. They said that Terrance Frazier, 17, went inside to see his girlfriend, who was there on another matter. Minutes earlier, officers had been told about the stolen Honda. Frazier was charged with theft, and the car was returned.



Now, this is a very bright young man! :confused:

[Diva]

I can't imagine how the parent reacted to hearing of the stupid things their son did. I would leave him in that cell to think about it for a while, that's for sure. Maybe gets some officers to do some 'scared straight' routins.
News (http://www.mycfnow.com/orlpn/news/stories/news-146623520020517-100536.html) - Albuquerque police have tracked down an accused carjacker from a call he made.
Police said a man who had just carjacked three people at gunpoint in Albuquerque tracked down the phone number of one of his victims and gave that person a call.

He wanted to know how to hook up the car's stereo amplifier.

The victim's cell phone captured the caller's number. The guy ended up living across the street from where the carjacking occured. Not only was he stupid, but lazy as well.

I always find it amusing when they talk about the criminal mind. Basically, there isn't one.

[Blue]

I think is has already been mentioned, but sounds like a good idea to me.

What about the public viewed street thrashing given for the non-violent offenders? I think it was China that uses this method.

[Diva]

I wonder what the crime rate in Singapore is? Does this work? I only know that it is illegal to chew gum there. Anyplace you can be arrested for chewing gum seems like they're not overloaded with the more serious crimes.

[Jake]

I can't even imagine the amount of law enforcement we would have to have in order to enforce those laws. It sure would be nice though.

[Redallnite]

It worked in Dubai!!!

Maybe Blue kinda meant something like..........

If i'm wrong Blue tell me...:)


PUBLIC HUMILIATION FOR CRIMES AIN'T THAT A SHAME?


If prison time or heavy fines are not enough to stop crime, some judges believe public humiliation will.

A front-page USA Today story, emblazoned with scarlet headlines, looks at "shame" punishments -- a practice, the paper reports, that is as ancient as the Old Testament and is making a comeback.

Courts across the country are handing down sentences that include a good dose of public branding, from allowing a woman assaulted by her ex-husband to spit in his face to forcing child molesters to post signs in front of their homes describing their crimes.

The Boston District Attorney's office added a new twist this month to the crime of sex solicitation. Convicted "johns" are given brooms and shovels, and spend four hours sweeping the streets of Chinatown, an area rife with prostitution. The public is invited to watch.

The rise in shame punishment is being dubbed a return to "scarlet letter" days, when sentences were meant not only to punish but to deter wrongdoers through public humiliation.

Judges, facing the problems of prison overcrowding and the high cost of incarceration, already have been relying on alternative sentences such as community service. But some legal experts believe judges are adding humiliation to the mix to soothe a public hungry for retribution.

The American Civil Liberties Union worries that shame can be very damaging to juvenile criminals who often have suffered plenty of abuse and humiliation in their lives.

For some, committing a crime is a cry for help, and added humiliation "may reinforce the very root of the behavior," says Jenni Gainsborough with the ACLU's National Prison Project. "For judges to get into the realm of psychotherapy in which they're not trained is dangerous."

Debasing sentences are not likely to be handed down in federal courts, USA Today noted, where judges must follow strict guidelines. Shaming penalties have been upheld by appellate courts in Florida and Oregon.

A sample of shame sentences includes:

In Memphis, Tennessee, Judge Joe Brown likes to escort burglary victims to the thieves' home and invite them to take whatever they want. --

An Arkansas judge makes shoplifters walk in front of the stores they stole from carrying signs admitting their crimes. --

In Manchester, New Hampshire, Thomas Jasche, a child molester who admitted his guilt, got two years of a minimum five-year sentence suspended. But he was ordered to take out an ad in two newspapers that included his picture, an apology and a plea for other potential molesters to get help.

Jasche's lawyers believes his client would have had a better shot at rehabilitation had he not been forced to publicize his crime.

"Public humiliation panders to the baser instincts in society as opposed to achieving what we hope any sentence would achieve...to rehabilitate the defender," he says.

Evan Cherminsky, law professor at the University of Southern California, is bothered by what the trend says about the criminal justice system.

"The real measure of how civilized we are is the way we choose to punish people," he says. "It's not civilized to tell somebody you're going to sit in the stocks and we're going to throw stones at you."

[Blue]

Suspected bank robber picks wrong getaway car
TOLEDO, Ohio — Unable to locate his getaway car and driver, a suspected bank robber jumped into the next car he saw. Unfortunately for the suspect, the car happened to be an unmarked police car.

Officer Anthony Duncan and city employee Ray O'Rourke were sitting in the front seats of their car on May 21, when a gun-toting man stormed into the back seat and demanded that the officer drive away. Moments earlier, the man had been chased by high school students and had fallen outside his getaway car, prompting the driver to speed off, police said.

After briefly exchanging quizzical looks with each other, Duncan, who was not in uniform, climbed into the back seat and wrestled the loaded gun away. The suspect was subdued and held down until uniformed officers arrived.

Eric Davis, 31, of Detroit, was charged with aggravated robbery and kidnapping. No further court dates have been set at this time, according to a Lucas County court clerk.