MSGID: 1:153/757.21@fidonet 08040cb8
REPLY: 1:153/757.0 51c9bc21
PID: OpenXP/5.0.57 (Win32)
CHRS: CP437 2
TZUTC: -0400
Hello George Pope!

** On Sunday 30.04.23 - 15:42, George Pope wrote to August Abolins:

 >> The best I could do is get passed the suspect and lock the door
 >> until the police arrive.

 GP> Can you not perform a citizen's arrest of the shoplifter?

I spoke up "Hey, stop.. theif!", that would only encourage them  
to exit the premises even faster. Not worth saying anything; I  
would be better off just getting to the door FIRST and go into  
lockown.


 GP> But beware of punks  like I was, who amused myself on rare
 GP> occasion by seeming to conceal an item  for the purpose of
 GP> stealing it, but either I didn't or I found a way to ditch
 GP>  it before I exited the store, & got the hand on the
 GP>  shoulder by security.

Ditching?  So.. you'd just let whatever you took drop to the  
floor or something?


 GP> I could put on a real show of righteous indignation for
 GP> those around me -- my  only public acting experience.

How did you explain your actions to security?


 GP> I think I only started because I was annoyed by a guard
 GP> following me like I was a shoplifter, when I had no
 GP> intention of doing so. . . I figured I'd teach a  lesson
 GP> in assumption; I had so much fun performing I repeated on
 GP> occasion  throughout town.

A lot of people gather things from shops, even mine, when they  
are looking around.  But the issue is when they use their coats  
or their own bags to carry.  With the demise of shop-supplied  
plastic bags, this concern about self-supplied bags will be  
elevated.


 GP> I had my share of welts, but always only on my buttocks,
 GP> unlike my parents'  generation, who would get them across
 GP> legs & back, as well.  My dad explained  that God put the
 GP> extra cushioning on the rear end to facilitate loving
 GP> discipline, without damaging the children.

I never heard the "extra cushioning" excuse. But I certainly  
never lay still for a lashing and as a result got the belt or  
willow branches anywhere where dad found a target.


 GP> So tired of news stories like the time a car thief in
 GP> Vancouver was released on a few weekends of using the
 GP> ankle bracelet for house arrest after stealing his
 GP> 2,000th car. My first thought was I wanted to check that
 GP> judge's  banking/spending history for the past few months.

I would think that most theives are either enticed to steal  
(for drugs or money) ..and therefore, don't have any money  
themselves.  So, when they end up in front of a judge, a fine  
is pointless. The perp is simply let go.


 GP> I'd've said, "Clearly you're not going to stop doing this
 GP> crime with normal  sentences of 6-18 months in provincial
 GP> prisons, learning new tricks of your  trade, so it's time
 GP> to up the ante, & see if that'll make you reconsider your
 GP> chosen vocation."

I dunno.. perhaps commiting a crime is one way for a desparate  
homeless/druggie to get some shelter, even if it is in a jail.   
Further to that, wouldn't the jailed person be served food?


 GP> Lots of options out there: Labour to repay our provincial
 GP> insurer the money lost in paying off the claims  for 2K
 GP> stolen cars comes to mind.

What kind of labour?  One way people "on assistance" avoid  
employment is to "be unemployable" and they do that by avoiding  
hygiene.


 GP> Let him walk around with his community with a sandwich
 GP> board for the time normally given as jail time to a car
 GP> thief, that says, "Beware; all I do is  steal cars.  Your
 GP> car is not safe when I'm around."

Human Rights people would be on that case in a minute.


 GP> Some public shunning might help prevent a host of
 GP> criminals from getting started.

Better to just post an image of the perp on a bulletin board or  
shop window.


 GP> I have far more respect for the 60-year-old alcoholic
 GP> panhandling outside the  liquor store, who greets people
 GP> in a friendly manner & opens the door for those who are
 GP> much-laden, than these 20-year-old panhandlers who sprawl
 GP> on their  backs across an entire sidewalk & DEMAND you
 GP> "gimme some money."

There are stories at the LCBO where people simply walk out with  
the goods, and the employees don't stop them.


 GP> I get to know the homeless people in my community, & learn
 GP> their stories; most  have a reasonable reason for being on
 GP> the streets; it's extremely rare to meet  someone there by
 GP> choice who isn't actively working to improve his/her
 GP> circumstances.

I know a few like that too, but maintaining employment does not  
seem to be their fort‚ nor interest.


 GP> I'd like to see it go further & have businesses post the
 GP> photos of those who  have stolen or otherwise behaved
 GP> improperly, in every window, in a section by  the door,
 GP> "These people are banned from this store for the crime
 GP> noted under  their photos." & as the rest of the public
 GP> realize this is done to prevent  unfairly penalizing all
 GP> with price increases to cover for thefts & insurance,
 GP> it'll be well praised & catch on elsewhere. . .

Don't always have time to stop what I'm doing and try to snap a  
picture of someone in the act, and then produce posters. What I  
do now is disallow anyone carrying large hockey/sports bags  
and/or backpacks.  They either have to leave them OUTSIDE or  
not come in at all.


 GP> Be well! Hope you're also starting to see lighter
 GP> temperatures & weather as we  phase into summer

It's been raining in my part of Ontario for 5 days straight.

-- 
  ../|ug

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