Posted on 12/26/2007 8:55:14 PM PST by hole_n_one
This is great - very warm and touching. Thanks for posting it!
I work Auto Theft Investigations for a living in Texas, each state may vary, so I wont claim to know California law. In Texas, this would count as a Burglary of a Motor Vehicle. The vehicle does not have to be secured, if a thief steals an item from the vehicle, a BMV has occured.
sitting around entrapping people seems to be what passes for police work in some areas.....
1. An IPOD is on the front seat of a car. The IPOD is worth 300 dollars. The window is open and someone reaches in and removes the IPOD. This is a petty theft, a misdemeanor.
2. Same scenario, but the car is locked and the windows are rolled up. Someone smashes the window and removes the IPOD. This is a vehicle burglary, a felony.
That's like saying you came across a naked girl crying for help, and instead of covering her and giving her help, you just raped her also, figuring she asked for it by being naked. After all, who could blame you.
If I see someones plasma TV in a vehicle, I don't somehow think he's an idiot for leaving it where I can get it. It's his, not mine.
The thief shouldn't be surprised when I pop a cap in his brain pan, after all, it's just a TV. He would do much better to meet the cop rather than me. Either way, he doesn't deserve to walk among real Americans.
BTW, I live in Texas and agree with the guy in Pasadena shooting the 2 illegals robbing his neighbor. He would get a "no bill" from me if I were on the Grand Jury.
Oh yeah, an open trunk. That's normal. Reminds me of the Far Side cartoon with the dog trying to lure the cat into the dryer with "Cat Fud" directional arrows.
Er, well, it IS entrapment, actually. The police are setting up a scenario for someone to steal something - a scenario which wouldn't have happened if the police hadn't specifically engineered it. If the police didn't set up a car full of goodies, nobody would steal from said car. The police should probably be spending their time investigating crimes that have actually happened, rather than trying to entice people into committing a crime so they can bust them then and there. Of course, entrapment is its own reward - a quick and easy bust gives more time for coffee and donuts down at the local Dunkies, without all that onerous, unnecessary "investigation" stuff to have to worry about.....
If I were on Joe Horn’s jury I would deliberate about as long as it took for the bailiff to get us coffee and doughnuts. And then, after a nice snack, it would be NOT GUILTY!
The difference being that in those cases, it wasn't the police trying to entice a passerby into committing a crime of opportunity.
In Colorado it’s better just to steal the guy and dump it somewhere. The police don’t chase after car thieves in this state. I kid you not.
Much like speed trapping, it sounds easier than real police work.
Thanks, Grego - that helps explain it. Makes sense now.
Nope, it isn't. It's done every day. They used a Corvette in Houston for years to "entrap" would be thieves, until most everybody watched the video's on the 6 o'clock news of the honest citizens, tempted beyond all hope, jumped in the convertable and hotwired it, and forever had one more line on their rap sheet. Do you honestly believe an honest person would be tempted beyond all reason to steal something, just because the door was unlocked or a window was down? By arresting these perps, you get scum off the planet with the rest of us. I'll wager it wasn't their first time.
You may not like speed traps, or stake outs, but it is NOT entrapment. Police officers offer to buy and sell drugs every day, and the girl in fishnet hose may also pull out her badge when you offer up a fifty.
You attitude either comes from lack of experience, or you got busted buying a "dime bag" in the projects and thought it was unfair. You certainly know nothing about law. If the police just sat at the donut shop waiting for crime, all they would get is the cleanup of brain matter sprayed on walls and drawing the outlines on floors. A large portion of everyday police work is done with stakeouts. Don't you watch TV?
Tip o’ the hat for a good Christmas story.
There is no such thing as an honest person. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. YOU could be just as tempted to steal from that car, if you thought you could get away with it, as anyone else. What the police are doing is INCITING a crime to be committed, which otherwise would not have been committed. That's called "entrapment".
You may not like speed traps, or stake outs, but it is NOT entrapment. Police officers offer to buy and sell drugs every day, and the girl in fishnet hose may also pull out her badge when you offer up a fifty.
This tells me you don't understand what "entrapment" is. A speed trap certainly is not entrapment - because the person committing the crime is ALREADY breaking the law when they are observed by police. Likewise, a fake drug buy is not entrapment because the police already have a suspect, and evidence that the perp is involved in previous and ongoing criminal activity - i.e. fake buys are part of things called "on-going investigations".
You attitude either comes from lack of experience, or you got busted buying a "dime bag" in the projects and thought it was unfair. You certainly know nothing about law. If the police just sat at the donut shop waiting for crime, all they would get is the cleanup of brain matter sprayed on walls and drawing the outlines on floors. A large portion of everyday police work is done with stakeouts. Don't you watch TV?
All I can conclude is that you're not a very smart individual. You do realise that a person can know something about the law, and oppose police entrapment, right? And you are aware that not everybody who opposes excessive police abuse just "hates the police because they got busted", right? And the dead giveaway that you are an idiot is that you think TV cop shows reflect reality. Please. How many hayseeds out there actually think CSI:Miami is the end-all and be all of how cops and the justice system operate? I laugh at least once during every CSI episode I see, because of some blatantly incorrect detail I seee in the show. One time, they even referred to an HPLC as a mass spectrometre. Don't tell me that I'll be informed if I jsut watch more TV cop shows.
Nonsense. I don't steal other people's stuff and I expect them not to steal my stuff. Opportunity to steal plays no part in the expectation.
San Francisco had an operation similar to this going for nearly a year before the liberals shut it down. They planted cash on helpless people and watched others steal the cash. One guy was picked up twice in nine months stealing other people's money. Just try to imagine how many crimes this punk committed during that nine months.
My wife described years ago when she visited Japan that a person could place their wallet with money in it on the sidewalk and could return a week later to pick it up.
If YOU would steal my money just because you COULD, then you are part of the problem. You are turning our world into a lawless mess requiring us to spend resources protecting our property that could be used for more beneficial purposes. Your attitude impoverishes all of us.
ANYONE, in the wrong frame of mind and the wrong circumstances, would. YOU would, deny it however you like.
I agree.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
