Thursday, March 12, 2009

Crime prevention reminder

Although I’ve blogged before about how to prevent home invasion robberies, it might be an appropriate time to repeat the advice.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Big dealers in big cities are probably known to be well-armed and ready to repel boarders (the classic fortified crackhouse), and present a hard target to anything short of a SWAT team, but these little soft-target dealers are just asking to be hit by any two-bit group of punks. They should find a safer line of work when they get out of the can. Maybe 3-5, back out in 18 months?

Tom Casady said...

For the robbery defendants, I'd say that would be a good guess on the two that are adults, but the other two are juveniles.

Anonymous said...

Very impressed by the officer who thought to try her birthdate!

Tom Casady said...

That would be Officer Matisha Nadgwick.

Anonymous said...

Here's an idea: It doesn't have revenue-enhancement potential, but the city could write a LB which would mandate that juveniles age 12 and higher that are charged with a Part I crime be prosecuted in adult court for those offenses, then pop it on a legislator's desk gift-wrapped, with a bow on it, at the start of the next session. These are adult crimes, and those who commit them should be treated as such.

Anonymous said...

I realize that you're not dealing with the brightest bulbs but calling the police because drugs got stolen from you? Come on people!! The stupidity of people never ceases to amaze me. I wonder if she'll try to collect damages from her homeowners insurance too?

David Bratzer said...

This is a serious crime involving firearms, juveniles and a home invasion. Yet the incident is more properly related to drug prohibition than drug pharmacology. The fact that marihuana is illegal creates a lucrative black market for dealers, which in turn makes them attractive targets for home invasions. A legal and regulated market for marihuana would eliminate these home invasions. These incidents consume significant police and court resources. Marihuana is not a benign drug but its effects on the human body pale in comparison to the overall consequences of drug prohibition.

This blog is one of my favorites because Chief Casady is usually open to new laws designed to reduce crime. Yet the topic of drug legalization & regulation has never been discussed as far as I am aware. Given this latest home invasion - one of many - it may be worth considering.

Please note that I'm not suggesting that police ignore laws regarding possession, trafficking etc. Police officers have a duty to enforce the laws that are on the books. Nor am I pro drug use. This is a general comment in support of changing drug laws that are ineffective and harmful.

David Bratzer
Member of LEAP
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Victoria, B.C.

Anonymous said...

I'd sooner see alcohol prohibition than drug legalization. Then we could tell the doper crowd that we are being consistent, just not in the way that they hoped. Ask the Chief what happened to their daily arrest numbers during prohibition (no he's not quite that old, but he does have access to the records).

Legalizing alcohol by repealing prohibition didn't decrease the other crimes that spring from the use of and addiction to that substance, nor would legalizing drugs decrease the other crimes that spring from the use of and addiction (including psychological) to those substances either.

Grundle King said...

Isn't 'marihuana' supposed to be spelled with a 'j', as in 'marijuana'? After all, they don't call it 'mary hane'.

According to the CDC, marijuana is associated with many of the same lung diseases cigarette smoking causes...and health costs from tobacco use are already out of control. Should we really compound the problem by adding marijuana to the mix?

The idea that we should just legalize it and tax it is only going to help 2 groups of people...potheads and big tobacco. Think about it...who would be better suited to start growing and distributing MJ than the tobacco industry?

Anonymous said...

What a coincidence! Let me phrase it this way: A9-022163, the usual home invasion question.

I mean, if somebody wanted lots of jeans, I'd think that they'd instead just burgle Fort Western and get 115 pairs, not do a HIR on a pad in that part of town for a mere 15. Also, if you had a lot of cash, you probably wouldn't live in that area, would you.

The Magic 8-ball says this one is fishy and rolling my 100-sided die, it comes up on...74. Why on earth would that be? ;^)

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David Bratzer said...

Grundle King - I'm from Canada, where most Canadians do spell it with a 'j'. However, our Controlled Drugs and Substances Act spells it with an 'h' and so I am in the habit of spelling it that way on reports.

The idea behind regulating and controlling drugs is not that they are benign substances. The idea, in fact, is that they are so harmful the government should have full control of them. Right now the government has no control. Because these substances are illegal, it is the criminal drug dealers get to decide where to sell them, at what price, at what purity, to which age groups, at whatever location they want (in or beside schools etc).

Legalizing and regulating drugs would not automatically mean they get sold in the same manner as tobacco. For a range of regulatory options please see the white paper "After the War on Drugs - Options for Control" at the Transform Drug Policy Foundation web site.

That said, tobacco is an amazing success story for those who are against drug prohibition. Possession of tobacco is legal in the United States. But through regulation and education, smoking has declined from 42.4% of adults 1965 to 20.8% nowadays (source: Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, National Health Information Surveys).

Anon at 5:32am - I would be interested in hearing about those daily arrest stats during alcohol prohibition... it is always good to remain open minded to new info. You are correct in stating there are still serious health and crime problems that still occur due to alcohol abuse. But the owners of bars and liquor stores no longer shoot each other in the streets when they have a business disagreement, which is what used to happen before the 21st amendment. Now they settle their disputes in civil court.

In these difficult financial times, it is important for the public to hear that regulating and controlling drugs would reduce crime, generate new tax revenues and launch an economic war against organized crime.

David Bratzer
Member of LEAP
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Victoria, B.C.

ARRRRG!!!! said...

I guess if the US legalized gonja there would be something for the hippies to do.

Who knows, it might even take care of Lincoln's beaver problem.

Anonymous said...

Here's a relevant question, David: Being a member of "Law Enforcement Against Prohibition", are you, or have you ever been, a sworn member of any law enforcement agency (and if so, which agency and what rank do/did you hold), or are you like most members of "Union of Concerned Scientists" - not scientists at all.

I ask, because some advocacy organizations names are a little misleading, and in reality just a fig leaf of credibility. In fact, members of LEAP are not required to be current or former law enforcement officers at all, and most of your members have never been sworn law enforcement, isn't that correct?

Anonymous said...

Hmm, when I roll the 100-sided die on A9-022369, it also comes up a 74. I've got to find out the significance of that number someday. In any event, since they just got cash (at least that's all that was reported by the victim), I wonder why they didn't rob the check cashing place instead? It's just up the street a ways. There's a bank right up the block too, and they've probably got cash there.

Let's see, what kind of loot could be in a run-down rental house that would attract armed robbers...

David Bratzer said...

Anon at 10:07pm - Yes I am a serving police officer in British Columbia. My bio is on the LEAP web site. I am a constable and I work in patrol, hoping to go to K9 someday. I have three years on the job and before that I was a jailer in city cells for two years. Of course, my opinions are my own and they don't represent my department.

Anyone can volunteer with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. There are a lot of dedicated civilians who contribute behind the scenes because they are passionate about changing drug policy.. But in order to give interviews, make presentations, publish op-ed pieces etc, you need to be a current or former member of law enforcement.

Dave

Anonymous said...

Well then, you might be able to answer this: How many current/former sworn LE members does LEAP have, and how many members who have never been sworn LE?

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Tom Casady said...

3:37-

Want me to delete that anonymous comment? Looks to me like it's just a cut 'n paste from your facebook page, but I'd be happy to make it go away.