That’s Right, a New Laptop.

June 18th, 2010 Thomasso

I am happily typing on my brand new laptop that I just bought today. Since the death of my old laptop three weeks ago, life has been rough trying to cope without one. I have really adapted myself to using my notebook when attending lectures and other events where I need to take huge amounts of notes. I find that I can type faster than I can by pitting pen to paper, the old school method. So this is the test run with the new machine.

A note on driving in Langley City. I have to applaud the RCMP for their enormous effort when they did the police state traffic blitz last week. That was great. That was a rare time to have everyone driving the proper speed, driving defensively, and not having to worry about being cut-off. I was beautiful! I really think that if this is what it takes to get people to drive safely, then I have no problems with the police state deal in Langley. I like it when I see speeders, tailgaters and red-light-runners get nailed!

Summer, could it finally be here? Doesn’t it start officially Monday?

Human rights: in my fourth year class this term, we are studying the topic of human rights from many different perspectives. My group presentation will be in three weeks, and out topic will be international criminal courts and law. When I first started looking at the option that I have for information on this topic, I thought that I would be struggling to find information and sources, but as it turns out, there is no shortage if texts on the topic. Heck, just in terms of current events from the news there is so much going on around the world that I can hardly keep up with it all. Right now we are focusing on the Gaza Blockade by Israel, and the G20 summit in Toronto. I am finding tones of stuff to write about. I think we will have a fun presentation. I’m looking forward to.

Next week’s class we will be having a mock court, and we will be arguing about a heated debate  on whether women should have to wear the veil/scarf aka Hijab. I will be playing the roll as one of the Crown prosecutors, of which I must come up with an argument to that will hold up against the Chart of Rights and Freedoms (1982) in Canada and state why women who choose to cover their heads should not be allowed in certain circumstance under Canadian jurisdiction. I think I got my work cut out for me.

My business Communications and technical writing class: My last class was dedicated to the topic of BS, or Bull Shit, from which we explored several ways that people can lie, spin or not tell the truth. The humour was gone when we got into the nitty-gritty aspects of how much of it there is in the world today. Oddly enough politics was not the worst bunch, but businesses and marketers took the top spot! I know, it was a shock for me too!

Well the lap top seems to have passed the first test. I can connect through wi-fi on campus, type out a doc, and upload it to the blog. I think we are all good here now. Talk to you later, gater.

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Human Rights Maybe Low on the Priority of Some

May 29th, 2010 Thomasso

OK, a little back grounder on for my thoughts on human rights, and why we wave the banner around but no one does anything about it. I am taking this course, as part of my degree in Criminology, and it deals specificity with all subject matter under the umbrella of human rights. We will cover, once the course is completed, everything from domestic and local issues, all the way up to international and global issues that concerns us today, and from the past. The mesh of political views, to cultural dynamics, are the themes that are a constant so far in this course. But this course is more than covering current events, and history texts, it is all about the ideas and solutions that could change the world in the near future.

War is a nasty business, right? When we talk about human rights, it is usually in the shadow of war. Ware is when man kind is at its worse. War teaches that all rules can be thrown out, or ignored, and these times of conflict bring the opportunity of creating exceptions to the rules of human rights, circumventing them in order to wreck complete havoc towards the enemy. However, when the conflict is over, and the wounds begin to heal, the world cries out for accountability, so the Untied National was born, and later on, the World Criminal Court. Venues that try to convict those people who started these terrible things that they did during those conflicts, and hold them to accountability. But the system is weak and, yes, it is very politely motivated.

Sovereignty (hey, I got the “g” in the right spot) is the key issue when thinking globally.  Would we ever consider the UN police marching down the streets of Washington D.C., poised to arrest President George W. Bush for possible war crimes? No way because the U.S. Would not tolerate it, and they have the means of making sure they are in total control of their sovereignty, not the U.N.. It is not the U.N.’s place to do this anyway. But for a class debate, this makes for some very interesting lectures. What right does a nation have for sending in it’s “special” forces to capture and detain a suspect of war crimes inside another country? I can write about this for hours…

In my class, there is a great mix of students from just about every walk of life from around the glob. We have students from just about all of the major organized religions, and about five students who are from the Middle Eastern areas, including Israel. Last week’s class lecture was the best yet. Although the principles of human rights seems obvious, the world that we live in is far to complicated to have every nation adopt in its laws these basic tenants. However, having such a diverse class means that the discussions are as diverse too, so when discussions start tackling issues such as international human rights laws, the brain power really start to crank up among the students.

I am look forward to next class. I think as we dive deeper into the murky world of human rights, my level of enlightenment will also increase.

Sadly, this will be my official last class of Criminology. I only have two courses after this, and they are electives. I will miss these classes after I graduate.

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A Mini Crime Wave, or is it Just the Background Noise of a Growing Society: Fort Langley on Video.

February 7th, 2010 Thomasso

Last year the local market had them installed, the Bank had them since I could remember, and I even have one: closed circuit video are everywhere, and more are to come. The local market, also know at the IGA, had them installed just last year after experiencing a record breaking year of theft. It was so bad there that the owner was almost looking at taking drastic measures to curve the financial loss it was incurring on his business. Once the video system was installed, they were able to use the images to show police who was steeling when they fled the store. For me, I had my vehicle broken into three years ago and I had to do something about it. My landlord was unable to offer any solutions, and they certainly did not want to install my camera, but after checking with law enforcement and legal experts, I was able to go ahead with the installation without my landlord’s approval. The camera has stayed ever since, even with many threats of legal sanctions, and a visit boys from the Township By-law office by them, my trusty little camera keeps a vigil eye on my vehicle. Oddly enough my vehicle has not being touched ever since?

Those same people who do not like me having a camera facing my vehicle, just had their “cash to change” vending machine broken into this last week in their laundromat. Guess what, they are now in the process of install the camera in their laundromat facing the vending machine! The thieves attempted to smash into the machine using some crude tools, and they gained access into the build by a flimsy window. Although they did not get any of the money inside the machine, they made a mess of the place.

But there are other lessons to be learned from the IGA and Laundromat experience. These buildings are prone to darkness and hidden sections when closed after business hours, ideal for thieves to lurk around. Environmental elements can be employed to lower the likelihood of thieves looking for “hiding” places like lighting and bars on the windows. A theory that says that thieves only like easy targets means that you must make it as difficult as possible for the theft to be not worth while and uninviting. Where I live, lighting is a big problem, that is, there is not enough of it. In fact, when thieves travel, our section of town seems to be where they prefer to move through becuase of the darkness. On several occasions now I have being awaken by police banging on my door asking me if I heard anyone running through my back yard. “Not since I fell asleep four hours ago,” I tell them.

I wonder if there is a correlation between the economic downturn and the growing population in our little village? Probably not.

I know that if you don’t nail it down, light it up, put a camera on it, alarm it, you are going to loose it. Thieves will “scope it out” and when they find something easy to take, they will waste no time to do it. Opportunity is something that thieves will take on in a moments notice. Timing is everything becuase it may not be there the next day.

So smile–you are on TV. I see cameras going up everywhere in Fort Langley.  But I should caution you if you are deciding to put up a camera in your neighbourhood for yourself. Check the law, rules and local by-laws. You have to post signage that you have a video surveillance system in operation, and you can’t capture audio while your camera is on. And obviously, you can’t aim it at your next door neighbour’s house, or through other people’s windows, only on your property.

Hey, video is changing the way our society looks at itself, and it seems to be crime driven. I can see all of us soon living in a gated community with cameras everywhere, check-points and ID checks leaving to and from our towns. Heck, all it would take is one good terrorist attack in the area to put all of us on high alert and straight in to paranoia. We may see cameras as intrusive now, but after an attack, we may all want one. Too bad though, I really like Fort Langley, and the small town atmosphere it has. I guess that is all changing as the population grows.

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Such a Foolish Waste of Life Taken Around Someone Else’s Personal Pleasure

September 19th, 2009 Thomasso

Warning: this post contains graphic and disturbing language.

It was about 6:00pm back on Thursday, September 17, 2009, that I was going to my evening class. I was nervous and excited all at the some time because this was the first week of the new semester, and I was anticipating a hard and gruelling course, especially because it is a third year science class. I was driving from HY10, heading up on 128 Street towards 72 Avenue in Surrey, where the Kwantlen Polytechnic University Campus is located. Along 128 Street there was water-main construction taking place, so the road was full of obstacles and uneven surfaces that made driving on it very slow going.

With the road full of construction, traffic was continuously backed up, but it came to a complete standstill just before the turn off into the campus parking lot before 72 Avenue. I could see flashing and strobing lights ahead, and the sounds of several sirens racing towards the intersection of 128 Street and 72 Avenue.  As I got closer, just before I was going to turn left I saw a green garbage can with its contents strewn across the road. Then I saw the tipped-over bench by the bus stop and clumps of freshly dug up grass and soil spread along the edge of the road, and then what looked like a suitcase full of clothes laying in the middle of the road. But tucked back up into some bushes and trees was the front of the dark coloured sports car pointing towards the road. The vehicle had somehow made a 180 degree turn when it slid off the road.

I pulled into the campus parking lot and parked when I saw a friend of mine who was walking from the scene of the accident less than 30 metres away, so I asked him what he saw.  He said that he saw a man whose legs were completely severed from his body, and lots of blood. He described how he could see the bone of one of the legs and stated how still the man was as he laid on the ground. My friend was in shock from seeing this.

As for the young person who was in the car, my friend said “we were going to make sure the guy in the car was not going to run from the accident,” His car would not start, but he stayed inside it anyway.

I went to my class which started at 7:00pm, and everyone was talking about the accident. It was a few minutes later before it was known that what had happened was due to a street race, and one of drivers lost control and hit a man at the bus stop. One of the students in my class said she gave her statement to police because she saw the whole accident take place, and told of a yellow car that was racing along side the dark blue car just before it had sped out of control.

I am outraged as is everyone else I had talked to about this. I have had a day to think about what I had seen, and I have come to the conclusion that I am outraged about it. When I heard about it on the news the next day at work, I could not believe that it was in fact a street race, and that a elderly man sitting at a bus stop is hanging onto his life a result of it. What a stupid waste.

This is no doubt a selfless act of someone who at the expense of innocent bystanders was willing to endanger those around him for his personal enjoyment and adrenalin rush. In this light I see the vehicle as a weapon, and when misused like this it has the potential to kill because the user has taken it means beyond what its intended uses are. If the vehicle was being used under normal circumstance, such as normal speeds and driving operations, then this light would be different.

The worry is that our laws may not give the driver, if found guilty, what the public would consider proper sentencing and punishment for his crimes. Because a man maybe killed, he is reportedly clinging to life in the hospital at the time of this writing, then nothing less than a charge of (vehicular) manslaughter must be given. As it stands now, a charge of attempted manslaughter maybe the direction the Crown should move on this, either way a life sentence. I will be paying close attention to this to see what the RCMP are going to charge the driver with, and how the judge will rule on this when sentencing takes place. I think the public gaze will be very critical about this as the wheels of justice start to turn.

Posted in Criminal Law, Criminology, General, Law, Social Justice | 2 Comments »

The Telephone Cops for the Internet

September 14th, 2009 Thomasso

Yesterday I had a conversation with a very good friend of mine about the new set of Internet laws that the Canadian government is poised to set into reading this Fall in Ottawa, (Investigative Powers for the 21st Century (IP21C) Act). I think for the average Canadian, most would react the same way as my friend did, in outrage that Big brother is about to be given another set of tools that will erode our privacy even further, but not really giving thought as to what the actual ramifications would be. But I like to think that both sides of the coin should be represented, but that can be hard to do when only one side does not want to listen. So, I’m going to post about.

Today I watched an online presentation that was offered by the department of Criminology from Boston University, the centre of North American Criminology, where I saw some opinions of the many governments who are finding the World Wide Web a network of security issues that they would like to control. The web has become a huge security issue for most countries. Among most criminal violations, crimes committed on the Internet are almost never caught. Police are powerless with this new technology, and rightfully so as most countries’ laws have not caught up to it. Especially when the net knows no borders.

Talking about my friend’s ideas. This is what I like to call the American contradiction, when the same person claims that they want privacy, and want to be protected from the boogie man at the some time. It is like paying no taxes, and having one of the largest military budgets on Earth: There is give and take, but you can’t talk from both sides of your mouth. Like my friend, he says that no one should have the right to peek into what people are doing on the Internet without common legal tools such as warrants and seizures of equipment, done through a court order, issued by a judge. The problem for police is the speed and stealth of which criminals work at when committing internet crimes. A clever computer geek can reasonably hide their tracks over the internet, but if police could tap into all ISPs and monitor all networks, then catching criminals would be several times easer.

Am I supporting the new piece of legislation that is about to be read in Parliament? In some respects, yes. I see a need by government to adopt a more realistic set of tools to deal with Internet crimes. Sure, But this with where me and my friend agree on—should this be a blanket law that would allow the police to truly become big brother, and through monitoring, watch every move that its citizens are doing every second of every day? Then I have to draw the line and say not 100 percent of the time. I still believe that “just cause” should be a major of the equation. So I’m going to do some more research on this topic and see what I can come up with. In the mean time, here are some links to read:

The Western Standard – Government of Canada moves to monitor Internet users.

Canada proposes new powers to police Internet.

No Appologies – Harper Conservatives expantion of Police Powers Conserns Freedom Advocates.

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How Difficult it is to Change Things without Changing them into Things you don’t Want

June 13th, 2009 Thomasso

Yesterday a co-worker had some thoughts on what he would like changed in terms of improvements to many of the social and political problems that he sees in Canada today.

The first area of change he wanted was a massive reform of the government, literally reducing the bureaucratic/administration portion of government down to a skeleton, and only allowing them a wage of one dollar per year as their paid salary from the tax payer. Politicians, the elected officials would also received the same pay structure of one dollar per annum. Also on the “to go” list would be offices such as the Privy Counsel, the Senate, most advisory offices; areas where only a handful of people are needed. Research and advisory offices would be hired on a need-be bases.

Next to get changed is a judiciary, where, not only would the structure and principles of law are revamped, but so to are the courts in terms of localities and functions they would serve. The rule of law would have some additional points added to it, and so to would the type of legal system to, in other words, what I think he is after is a change from the common law and a move towards the Civil Code style of law we see in France today. Courts essentially would mainly reside at a municipal level, and there would only be one court of appeal, or super court, the supreme court which would be located probably in Ottawa.

Taxation would take on a new changes, for example, anyone who wishes to donate money to their organization of choice would no longer receive a tax right-off, e.g., churches, NGOs, and taxes would remain localized, so only your tax money would stay in your community, and only a portion of it would go federally.

What is interesting is that most people feel that improvements are needed in government, however, to make changes and then try to formulate how those changes will affect the country as a whole, we then start to see how problematic it is. There is no way that we can please everyone who sees imperfections in our governmental system, but we all have special interests that we would like to see. We get into problems of conflict when what I would like to see as the ideal government in Canada varies extremely from yours.

But there is a deeper problem that I see now after talking to my co-worker which I never really gave that much thought about before, and that is one should really try and fully understand what the political processes are, and how the structure of our three main levels of government work before we can fully qualify serious changes to it. Then once we are armed with the knowledge of all these things, then we should hopefully see the dynamics and shifts of each idea proposed on a theoretical bases, in other words, seeing the causes and effects in an abstract view.

In  my understanding of Canadian politics and jurisprudence, among all of its processes and structure, I feel it needs to stay the way it is now. But take in mind that we are contently in a state of flux, and changes, although small and minute, are always talking place. Each time we elect an government, and new markets open and old ones close, change is inevitable on a whole. However, without going through these exercises of playing around with these ideas we would never learn and understand what it is that we have now to and hopefully appreciate the rights and freedoms we enjoy.

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What I See is What You See?

May 22nd, 2009 Thomasso

How do you view crime? Who are the criminals? What should we do about people who commit crime? Should we create more laws, or make laws tougher? Do the police need to do more?

These were some of the questions being asked at a community meeting I attended a couple of weeks ago in Langley City. At that time the infamous Bacon Brothers were making their court début at the Surrey Court House, the notorious gang members of the Red Scorpion Gang, and several gang style shootings had just taken place throughout the Lower Mainland around Vancouver too. People who attended that meeting were fairly riled up about the whole gang issue as every news cast tried to one-up itself with any developments on any gang subject that they could find. People were riding the crime wave.

I remember one person’s view about just how bad he thought crime was as he said “it’s getting out of control,” and that we need tougher laws. “No one who kills another man should ever be let out of prison…, this revolving door is a joke!” he went on to say. And after he was finished, the next person virtually said the same thing, and so on, until it was the members of the panel turn to speak.

The first panellists said so eloquently that crime was actually decreasing, and that we were seeing near 1960s crime levels. She went on to say that our problem was more to do with organized crime across the border and abroad than anything else. The Americans love our BC Bud, and in return, gangs try to fill these niches, and we see power struggles developing as different groups try to compete with one another to try to gain as much power as they can. This crime activity can be traced right down to Mexico and Central America as drugs move into the U.S., guns and money flow out.

The next speaker talked about how the changing demographic is affecting our statistical models on crime. As age and economic strata changes from one community to another, so does the way crime patterns shift also. She talked about girl crimes, and how with changing laws and shifts in demographics, female crimes are now on the radar. For the first time in the last decade the term “girl gangs” has being used by the media, and the public has reacted with more complaints filed with law enforcement officials than ever before.  Still, it is always the youth who are targets for suspected crime profiles, and any group of youths walking down the street can testify that the general public is very concerned when they see them in groups. However, as the speaker said, “It is now a fact that we can say in general terms that it is the parents who were worse than their children are in terms of crime frequencies.” Just a note, oddly enough she didn’t give out any sources for her research during the presentation.

Everyone has their own perspective on crime. For most, their opinion is formed through the media, or a general consensus that says crime is increasing at an unprecedented rate. From the small sample of people that I talked to at this forum, I got a sense that the common view of who a criminal is  was usually based on age, gender and ethnicity. This is in keeping with my academic training, so it was no big surprise, but it was uneasy to hear this first hand.

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Get-A-Way Bus: The Surrey Express.

March 4th, 2009 Thomasso

Crime is a five letter word that everyone has an opinion on, and that few could fully understand.  For the last while I have being able to observe some of these people who are part of this marginal group in this subculture, the ones who seem to be from all walks of life and claim to fill many facets of the criminal world.  Actually it is easy here in the Lower Mainland because all you need to do is ride the transit system to meet some of them. I never engage directly with them, but I sit and listen. The best place to be on the bus is in the mid section, and I usually read a book while the passengers talk amongst themselves so not to interact. It’s safer that way.

Girl crimes have always fascinated me because the female crime rate is one of the fastest growing demographics in certain offences today; so taking a keen interest means that any opportunity in hearing what these people say is a golden opportunity.  The transit system is the perfect environment because you are stationary, seated, yet mobile at the same time, and presumably everyone around you is a stranger. So people tend to speak more freely then they would while standing at the bus stop. Another added bonus is the cell phone because this usually seems to be the triger to stir up these sorts of conversations and express raw attitude.

A group of four young women got onto the bus. They all marched towards the back seats where they could sit facing each other with their backs against the windows. This particular bus had a raised rear section and the seats were parallel to the windows as opposed to being in rows like up in the front section. They started talking once the bus started to move.

As they were talking, one of them answered her cell phone. This young woman started yelling into it saying, “you creep—you F—ing creep, you are dead. I will mess your name so bad….” then she flicked the phone and put it into her purse.

The conversation and tone changed instantly between them and one of them said, “I am seriously going to mess her up! She is going to pay tonight when I go over there.”

So, listening to them for a few minutes I figured out that one them had been told in that phone call that she was “ratted out” to the police for shoplifting, and this confession came from one of her co-offenders who had being apprehended by the police moments before. Obviously the interrogation worked if the police allowed it to be known. It had also being made clear that the bus was the get-a-way vehicle, and that the crime was only minutes old.

Sadly, shoplifting is one of those crimes that goes unpunished unless the retail outlet can either apprehend, or successfully identify who the offender is. Most shoplifters get away and will probably reoffend several times until they are caught again, and even then the punishment is very minor. For these young women, punishment was the least of their worries, it appeared to be the honour that was at stake.

They were loud and seemed not to have any worries about their situation among the other passengers. And as good people, the passengers reciprocated the gesture by looking the other way and ignoring this performance in turn.

One of the women decided that they should get off at a particular stop and double back to Surrey so that they could find their “friend” and make good on their promise.

When the bus stopped along 56 Avenue, the four women got out. I looked back as the bus pulled away, and to my surprise I noticed a police car pulling up towards them and then stopped. One of them turned and started walking in the opposite direction while the other three stood still. Two female mounties got out of the car, and one of them quickly ran over towards the women who was walking away. Without incident all six women walked back to the police car, and that was when I lost sight of them as the bus continued on its route.

Perhaps what is interesting was that I would have never pegged the four young women as criminals on the lamb. Their clothes, demeanour and accessories would have fooled me because they dressed, acted and mimiced the way college students would. This is probably the stereotype that I form, the bias that I have when fitting a face to a crime. This is just one example of just how complex society is today.

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Gangs

February 25th, 2009 Thomasso

Well, well, well, the media is on a blitz with criminal gangs here in the Lower Mainland, as we now have hit the 12th killing in 24 days. The news papers are a buzz with people’s opinions, and law enforcement officials talking the talk and spewing out all sorts of social, judicial and administrative problems as the public screams for answers and results. No one is immune from it, the criticisms I mean: judges, lawyers, politicians, police, academics. It is like everyone is fodder for the moral panic that is flooding the airwaves.

This morning in one of my classes, we talked about the escalating gang violence problem. The prof said very bluntly, “we are giving the gangs what they want…” He was refering to “fear.” The media is pumping everyone up with the fear from the spike in gang violence. The public, who only a fraction of it knows just how the justice system functions, has been very quick to criticize and lay blame to it. There was a community rally a couple of days ago in Surrey, BC where members of the public wanted tougher sentences and swifter responses from law enforcement officials to keep gang members off the streets, and change the justice system. One sign read, “Elect Judges!,” while another said “Longer Sentences.”

The problem that I see right off the bat is that people maybe angry and fearful of gang violence, but do they really understand the problem when they ask for legislative change? For the media, they know that printing a dead body on its cover of the newspaper, or running it as the lead story on TV is going to sell better than talking about a snow storm in Newfoundland the night before. As sick as this sounds, people like to see this type of news, so it is easy to “amp up” the stories and sell those papers. Crime is one of the best topics to capture people’s opinions with: that is partly why I became a criminologists, I wanted to study this phenomena.  A reporter says, “gang violence is growing out of control in our community,” well, everyone goes into fear mode, and then asks for “swift” justice. Shootings are no doubt one of the biggest criminal events that can shake any community down to its core, so naturally and rightfully so, people are going to react to it. People are going to think that there is a break-down in the justice model, so quick fixes are needed to deal with this serge in criminal violence, meaning change, “like right now.”

I ask, are you willing and ready to give up your way of life just to stamp out organized crime? How far should we all go to stop all gang members from becoming gang members?  Do we need to elect judges, hire more police, spend more money, create stiffer penalties?

For the public these are issues that are answered without any forethought to the problem because no one really knows how to address them. Take for example, a police officer, a politician, a criminologist, and ask them, “What is the definition of a Gang”?  It is very difficult to find a good bases point to address what is, or isn’t, a gang. Then add the problem of defining what is organized crime. Even the so called “self experts” from the right wing spectrum of the political map have a problem with this one too. Then ask, why are gangs always affiliated with ethic stereotypes? The only “White” gang that I know of are the Hells Angels. So gangs are big mysteries, and with great mysteries the media scare waves can broil the public into panic.

Then we have the political “Band-Wagon” of crime, and everyone will want to jump on it as passes by. With crime waves comes politicians begging for attention, “look at me—I’m going to GET THOUGH WITH CRIME! Watch me—Vote for me—I have the answer.” The danger with the band wagon of reform is, the public will pay a price and that price will be more than just cost because we will see drastic changes in the way the justice system will serve the public. All political parties, regardless of their stripes will boast about their stance on crime, and pulling the crime-card will make voters wary about who to choose, or believe. The back-fire from all of this will be those who are innocent, whether they are the bystanders or the wrongfully convicted, public opinion will always be split on the effectiveness of any crime control scheme imposed by any government.

So, are we giving the gangs what they want? Probably not, but when the public goes into fear mode then everyone is effected by it and that is where the so called gang wins. Drive-by shootings are selfish acts that effect entire communities, and law enforcement officials need to have the best tools to fight this type of crime with, but also keep in mind too that we should not be willing to sacrifice our freedoms due to fear. We must keep level heads and our ideals when faced with a handful of mindless acts. Hey, if you want to see a bad place with a huge drug and gang problem, go to Mexico, we can learn a lot from their issues.

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Something Happened, Something Changed: So We Must All Pay

February 10th, 2009 Thomasso

I know, it’s a long title, but I wanted to lay it out in its proper sequence so you know what I’m getting at. It has to do with my work place, an indecent that took place there in which a probable cause was made based only on an assumption of an alleged crime from what could be a mistake. A large order was made, it was sent to us by a shipper, and we received it and discovered that it was missing a substantial amount of units. Three employees counted the shipment and agreed that the amount that was requested, counted and sent via the packing slip was incorrect.

Next, the manager placed a call to the vendor telling them of the shortage. Usually in these types of cases, depending upon small amounts of missing pieces, both parties just accept the loss and usually the vendor rights it off and gives credit. However, in this case the loss was significant, and the vendor claims that the shipment was double checked because previous shipments had shown inconsistencies with quantities in the past. So, the poor manager now has a dilemma on his hands.

Because the cost of the shortage is significant, and both side stand firmly in their duties and actions  according to the agreement, a series of events now unfold. Behind the scenes, the decision must be made on how to reconcile it. This means that three outcomes are possible:

1. Forget that it occured and just accept the loss, however, change the method of receiving product and put in place mechanisms that would catch discrepancies in the future.
2. Demand the remaining pieces and threaten with a legal action.
3. Mitigate the loss, rewrite the agreement and change the procedure of ordering product from that vendor.

The first knee-jerk reaction by the manager was to talk to the employees, an informal investigation. Then, once that was completed, setting up changes in order to deter future situations from occuring again, or at least mitigate them. The thought proposed solution is to consider installing Closed Circuit Cameras to monitor the shiping and receiving area 24/7. Next, to immediately start bag searches of all employees when leaving the premises.

Although these are band-aid solutions to age old problems, the mark left on the staff maybe marked more than the crime itself. The issue of trust now comes into play. For the employer, who just suffered a huge loss, now has to reconcile it by taking preventative measures to avoid such possible situations from occuring in the future, or at least be reassured that the mistakes/thefts will not occur within the company. For the employees, they are now faced with the possibility that the watchful gaze of the employer now monitors them, every waking hour while on the job.

For me, I wonder what is worse, the crime itself, or the control to prevent the crime?

Posted in Bitching about work, Criminal Law, Criminology, General | 2 Comments »