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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