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Nintom64 t1_j5ooekt wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in New Haven Board of Ed. security officer fires gun at teen who was breaking into his car: PD by EasyE0287

Address the root cause. Why are kids committing petty crimes like this? The answer is increased poverty and lack of opportunity in their communities. Housing and food insecurity. High crime and violence. If we want to stop this, then those are the issues we need to tackle in the cities.

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TreeEleben t1_j5ov220 wrote

You're absolutely right, but the fact that these kids know they won't be prosecuted is also part of the cause. Of course poor kids are going to go out robbing cars, high reward, effectively zero risk. It's frustrating when the police can't do anything to stop the robberies, and if a citizen tries to stop it, the police arrest them and lock them up, while the theives get let go immediately.

Poverty isn't going away, it's just increasing. The state needs to get this under control before it gets worse. Kids are already shooting at people who spot them. Someone is going to end up dead.

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EvidentlyEmpirical t1_j5py5x0 wrote

I feel the need to preface this by saying I'm not advocating for this, I'm predicting it will happen. This is not an endorsement of violence, it's a suspicion that violence will occur due to the circumstances that are part of the conversation.

There, now that the disclaimer is out of the way, what you're describing sounds like a recipe for vigilantism. Someone is going to get the bright idea to be Batman and come in with some friends to beat the crap out of the thieves... and this cannot end well.

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Nintom64 t1_j5p4cz0 wrote

That is incorrect. No kid is thinking “hmm I can’t wait to steal stuff because the state won’t punish me for it!” The consequences of the crime isn’t even a thought in their head. Again address the root cause. Poverty. We can fix this issue by addressing what leads people to commit petty crime.

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DerpolIus t1_j5qj9s7 wrote

Ok. How? How do we address poverty? And what do we do in the meantime while it’s being addressed? What do we say to the people who have to live this reality every day? That their solution is a decade out and they just have to suck it up until then? It’s a noble idea and one that we should be working towards now, but it does nothing to help people in a timely manner.

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wpm615 t1_j5p77zw wrote

That’s a cute take on the situation. There’s plenty of jobs available, every employer/municipality/state/institution is hiring right now. They are giving skilled jobs to people with no experience to fill the role and are providing training. This is a time of great opportunity, and young thugs are still going around robbing hardworking people

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shotpun t1_j5q26r0 wrote

what? tech and software firms are currently going through their largest wave of layoffs since any of them were founded. there's a real estate bubble that puts 2008 to shame and it looks like it's about to burst. u.s. life expectancy is decreasing for the first time since the country was founded.

when child malnutrition rates go up, child hunger goes up, and public education continues to fall behind standards, all in a world that everyone (regardless of political affiliation) agrees is the most socially and financially tense it's been in decades, kids are going to make horrible decisions. yes criminals are still criminals but calling the world we're in 'cute' is an extremely disingenuous way to sweep systemic problems under the rug

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Nintom64 t1_j5p8mmr wrote

It’s really telling your first reaction is “get a job” when even if you have a job, you still live in poverty. Specifically for the kids breaking into cars: we should focus on providing after school activities and funding programs that engage people so they won’t turn to crime.

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