Posted on 07/20/2004 3:17:41 AM PDT by palmer
Mayor Anthony A. Williams last night declared that juvenile car thieves have created a crisis in the District, and he pledged to add law enforcement resources and increase social services for the troubled families and neighborhoods in which so many of the offenders grow up.
...
D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey commissioned a study last year that showed that some car thieves keep cycling through the system. The review covered about 1,600 juveniles arrested in a three-year period that ended in 2003. It found that more than 670 of the youths had at least one prior arrest for car theft. About 300 youths had two or more prior car theft arrests.
The action plan outlined by the mayor last night has several elements: a more concerted and coordinated effort by police and prosecutors; changes in the law to strengthen deterrents; improving recreation facilities; installing street barriers and other traffic-slowing devices; increasing support to troubled families; and requiring more parental involvement and responsibility.
...
"Any time after 11 or 12 [at night] is when you hear the speeding cars coming through and the helicopters overhead trying to chase them," [D.C. resident] Bowman said.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Corporal Punishment in these cases just might work. Bend the POS wannabe's over a desk... then spank them until your arm gets tired!!!
Sounds like an appropriate "social program" to me.
Not much new here... I almost never go into DC anymore. They are so damn soft on crime they have become enablers. I don't care what age they are, they need to get these criminals off the damn streets. Increasing social services for these people won't do one bit of good. REmember the "midnight basketball" proposals a few years ago? A lot of good that did....
Allow the 2nd Amendment to apply in DC, and this prooblem will go away. (Plus change the rules on deadly force to mirror those in Texas.)
Sounds ok to me, as long as it's not my car!
The kids are back on the street before the ink is dry on the report. Spending resources for troubled families and improving the swimming pools and basketball courts isnt going to do any good. These kids know from the gt that they will be back for another ride tomorrow night. In another story this week 6 kids in two stolen vans went to Charles countty on a pillaging tour and ran down a lady killing her and the driver of the stolen vehicle, they are charged as adults for murder, this will slow them down a bit.
Ooooohhhh, this makes me burn! Back in 1991 when I lived in Alexandria, VA my car was stolen. Two weeks later, the
DC "REDRUM" (cute, murder spelled backwards) special task force caught two black 16 year olds drag racing my 300 h.p. car down Florida Avenue, discovered it was stolen, arrested them and impounded the car. When I picked the car up, I was told that they were released that evening to their mothers (God only knows where their fathers are) and that no charges were filed because they were juveniles. It seems that the laws in DC are to protect the native thieves rather than the property owners in surrounding jurisdictions. Some things never change. I will NEVER return to DC. BTW, when I went to pick my car up, an officer had to drive me to the impound lot. He treated me like a jerk, thinking my car had been towed, until I told him it had been stolen and that his precinct had recovered it. Then he puffed up with pride and then told me that these juveniles routinely steal cars instead of taking a bus or taxi because it's faster and they are "untouchable." Seems they don't get too much praise for doing good in D.C. I had hoped things were getting better under Mayor Williams, but he can't change the underlying political climate in that dysfunctional city.
When I drive through there (not often) they are all standing on the corner like they are waiting for the bus. Except there's no bus.
New headline -
"Mayor Pledges to Show Criminals How to Shoot Hoops When Not Busy Stealing Cars"
no lie there! The DC police are a sad lot. They could not find their asses with both hands! Usually because they have a doughnut in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other! The funny this is, is that they've had a STRICT gun ban since 1974 yet the murder rate climbs every year!
Just ANOTHER reason to stay out of DC!
They're waiting for their homies to roll up in a new ride that they've stolen!
The city didn't fail to raise the young criminals properly, their parent(s) are to blame. Stealing Whitey's car is just no big deal anymore.
Defense attorneys, in close cooperation with the DC judicial system, have institutionalized the "some guy" defense.
The "some guy" defense goes like this: "That car? I didn't steal it! Some guy said I could drive it!" At that point, the "Grand Theft, Auto" felony charge is immediately bumped down to "Unauthorized Use of an Automobile".
You will note in the article that the offenders had repeatedly been "arrestd" for car theft. No mention was made of any convictions on those charges.
Witness the effectiveness of the "some guy" defense.
"Washington, D.C., a work free drug place!"
A job in Anacostia in the early 90's was the last straw for me... I fled to New Mexico.
Bill Cosby's analysis rings very true here. The 'adults' being interviewed on TV always want 'action' by the govt, never do they talk about the failure of themselves and the 'parents' of the young animals stalking the streets.
They used to hang horse thieves. . .
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