25 March 2008

It's Not the Ups & Downs - It's the Jerks!
A while back, I mentioned that tale about the elevator operator and the take he had on life (he wasn't just speaking about the job).
And today's title sums it up nicely.
It also applies to other things in life...many things.
Take crime for example (please, and take it FAR away).
Sunday's paper had some startling information regarding robberies (to those living in the NICE parts of our fair city), but to me, it was STILL worth reading in spite of the fact that I already KNOW what's going down and what is supposed to be happening to halt this aspect of crime.
I say "supposed", because I'm not seeing much in the way of change for the better. If I DID, I'm sure the article would have taken a slant of about 180 degrees in the OTHER direction.
Now remember kids...as everyone has been telling us:
CRIME IS GOING DOWN.
(got it? Good.)
Robberies of residences however, are GOING UP. And we can add that to car thefts, burglaries, strong-arms, and several other crimes that for some reason don't seem to "fit" into the statistical realm that the local MSM has quoted city officials as telling us.
So what the hell IS it, folks?
UP or DOWN?
I can speak from my neighborhood alone, that several houses have been hit already (over the past several years). There are some curious aspects to these specific robberies that I have found.
1) The robbers (in the last two instances) were after COPPER in these houses, and they made a nice haul both times. Forceable entry was very evident, and it was done at night.
2) Both houses the scrappers hit were owned by WHITE people. Black houses that remain vacant in the area (in some cases for MONTHS) are never bothered with for some strange reason.
3) Entry to both houses was made on a side of the house perpendicular to the street the house faced, and NOT by the alley behind it.
4) Both houses were in the process of sale at time of robbery.
5) We have quite a few "certain" people (read "junkmen") with nothing to do all day around here but cruise the streets, looking at the houses as they drive up and down the blocks and alleys.
With those facts known, it's only logical to conclude that the people "cruising" are searching for "trends" in the neighborhood (as the article mentioned). With few people actually WORKING around here, there are just too many others with nothing to do but watch YOUR house, and anyone else's to see WHEN you head off to work, WHEN you come home, and WHEN you might go to the grocery or do other errands.
Some would think this sounds a bit paranoid.
I think it makes damn good sense.
If I were a thief, I'd sure be on the lookout for the "right time" to hit a place I'd been casing for a few weeks. At least that's the way any professional (or semi-pro) would do it. Now there is the off-chance that a door might be left open (a HUGE mistake in OUR area if you're white and/or a homeowner), but that would only be that crime of "opportunity". Neighbors that used to live here told me of break-ins that occured while they were at work.
Hell, it happened to US when we lived over at Willow Creek Crossing apartments (those big red caboose commericals of propagandized falsehood). Someone knew when we BOTH were at work, and hit our place around 10AM, and we both got calls at work to come home. Police were on scene, a detective dusted for and FOUND prints, took statements, and so on.We did have human feces smeared on the carpet and everything was torn asunder (so they had some quality TIME in the place). Another neighbor was hit as well on the first floor. We lost about $500+ of personal items. We moved VERY soon after that. After TEN years, I STILL would not recommend that complex to anyone and still be able to sleep at night. An online friend recently moved there, and HE was burglarized as well. Some things never change.
But as all the good, working (and yes, white) neighbors moved away in THIS neighborhood (some after getting burglarized and saying enough was enough), they were (and still are) always replaced by semi-working (until they pay a few months rent and quit or get fired and go on welfare) or non-working people of dubious character. I have only seen ONE exception to this "rule", and even THEY moved after a while (after getting broken into). So these thieves WILL rob blacks when given the right "setting".
There are two Hispanic families that (so far) haven't been hit, but they've only been here a year or so...give it time. Several houses were hit more than once, some are not hit at all. Our house was "robbed" when our garage door was left open for an hour (while I was at HOME). I lost a damn good Craftsman tool box (40 lbs, full of tools, of course) and a microwave oven.
Damn good thing they didn't try to snatch my car that was in there. Can't even air out your garage it seems. Like I always say: You CANNOT let your guard down one minute with these people! I'll give them one thing; they're fast and quiet. Didn't hear a sound until I went out and saw the missing stuff. Hope the bastard got a hernia lugging the toolbox and died of festered gonads (yeah, Im nasty that way).
This time, the FWPD didn't even bother to come to the house...they took all the info over the phone. How marvelously IMPERSONAL. Nothing has come of EITHER robbery (to date), and most likely never will. That's speaks volumes to ME.
That brings me back to Sunday's article.
The FWPD has created a new "team" to deal specifically with this surge in robberies (good thing crime is going DOWN, isn't it?) to residences, as business robberies ARE actually going down (so we're told, but don't say anything to those FOUR FAST FOOD BUSINESSES that were recently hit). This team is going to look at TRENDS (gee, sounds like something I've been doing for years...for FREE as well), as opposed to individual cases. I do know that the scrap metal recycling places around the city are ALREADY being monitored...have been for over 6 months now. Some places are being watched more carefully than others ( suspicious practices?) as well as the "repeat customers".
WIll this make a difference? Well, according to the FWPD, the team has already arrested 8 people. Could be a case of too little, too late.
We'll have to wait and see.
But remember, CRIME IS GOING DOWN - spread the word.
And be sure to tell the victims that.
I'm sure THEY could use the "good news".

2 comments:

Phil Marx said...

A few years ago, I had an old fridge I needed to get rid of, but I didn't think the city would pick it up. My neighbor said I should just set it out by the side of the house and one of the scrap collecters would pick it up.

A couple hours after putting it out, a man knocked on my door and asked if he could take it. I offered to help him lift it in his truck, but he said he could handle it. I watched as he completely broke that thing apart, seperating anything non-metallic out from the rest.

In less than five minutes, he was gone. And not a sinle scrap was left on the ground. That guy was a professional!

Bob G. said...

Oh yeah, we got more "pros" around here than you can shake a stick at.

With the EPA crap going down over CFCs in fridges, I'd like to see some compliance to the mandates for proper disposal of the freon (I used to work with that stuff).

Scrappers don't follow ANY rules except one:
MAKE MONEY!
(by any means necessary)

B.G.