Monday, October 20, 2008

Criminal Minds?

The captain of our local police station sends a daily email recapping the day's crimes, and the block where they occurred and the perpetrator lives is listed. It's good to be forewarned of crime trends. I'm careful in general, for instance I know not to leave tempting items exposed in my vehicle, but it's good to know when there's a rash of break-ins nearby so I can be extra careful.

I've noticed a few graffiti arrests which is heartening since the last time I called in a group of kids (three times over a 20 minute period!) as I followed them for blocks and watched them tag a streetcar and then a bus shelter, the police didn't show up. It's sad to see the domestic violence cases, and creepy to see how many people die in their homes.

A favorite is people who run the stop sign half a block from the police station. Really? I can see that you live in the neighborhood, you really don't know that the police station is right there?

It's amazing how dumb some of the criminals must be. Every day someone is stopped for running a stop sign, or driving with headlights out, only to be hauled away because they don't have a license or drugs were found in their vehicle. If I were going off to a drug deal with thousands of dollars' worth of drugs in my trunk, and there was a warrant for my arrest, I would make sure my headlights were on and would make an effort to follow all the traffic laws. If I were forced to drive without a license, I would certainly not have an open container of alcohol in my lap.

These reports sheds a different light on the term "criminal mind".

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