SLegacy99

This statement makes no sense. The fact that the property belongs to me means that criminals will stay away, thus I can leave my doors unlocked? ...uhh, in a perfect world we wouldn't need locks at all. But this isn't the reality of our world.

Nevertheless, read the article again. The proposed fine is for those parking on residential streets, not one's own driveway.

jaseman

It seems to me that there's two separate issues going on here...

The first being 'invasion of privacy'. Whether we leave our doors unlocked or not, we don't want someone entering our cars without permission. Just like we don't want people opening our underwear drawer or medicine cabinet when we host a party. We feel violated in some way, whether the offender is a common thief, someone who thinks they are doing us a favor, or just someone who's curious. We feel even more violated when it's someone of authority who would normally need a warrant, or at least probable cause, especially if we were in our car at the time.

The second issue is 'crime prevention'. All this guy really wanted to do was raise some public awareness to crimes of opportunity. Wether you agree with the method or not doesn't matter. The intent was to make residents of aware that unlocked cars were having things stolen out of them in those neighborhoods. You could argue (and I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here) that they were actually helping to deter petty crime by A) taking away opportunity, B) having a visible presence on the street, and C) informing citizens how to prevent loss of property by locking their cars.

Unfortunately, the problem comes from the conflict of these two issues.

We had a rash of things stolen out of cars in my neighborhood last summer (I actually had a GPS taken - simply forgot to lock the door after multiple trips with groceries in hand). Kids walking down the street in the middle of the night lifting door handles. It's easy, discreet, and only takes two seconds to reach in, grab something, and walk away. And living in the city, with on-street parking, no one pays any attention to the sound of a car door. You'd be up all night listening if you did. Now, had my neighbor, who I know personally, and is a close friend, left a note that said "Hey man, saw kids on the street lifting door handles, so I checked your car and locked it" I wouldn't be pissed off. But I don't know how I might feel if it was a city employee that I didn't know.



I think the guy is getting a bit of a bad rap. I completely understand why people are pissed off though. Unfortunately for him, he's probably in a lose-lose situation. Residents are probably crawling up the departments ***, asking "why aren't you doing something about these thefts", but when he tries to do something about it (granted, in a very unconventional way) they want his head on a platter.


I bet most people in those neighborhoods are locking their doors now...


Edit:
I do find that threat of a fine a bit excessive, and probably as much a part of the reason people are upset. Had there simply been a note stating "There has been a rash of thefts on your street, and we are locking your car as a courtesy - please contact us for information, with questions, or feedback on the program... your local P.D." they might have gotten a different reaction.

tex2670

And, to me, this is where this all becomes nonsense. So, you park in your driveway, 20 ft away from that car in the street, any you aren't going to get a ticket. Either the cops are trying to get people to change their behavior to deter the opportunistic criminal, or they are not. Silly hair splitting like that totally undermines any logical argument that the police are trying to make.

Big Mack

iTrader: (1)

My statement absolutely makes sense. You're ignoring the fact that I agreed thieves won't stay away, but the police should deter them, not force those who are minding their own business to have to lock their doors or face a fine.

Did you bother to even read my posts? Never said the fine was for parking in their driveways with the doors unlocked. In fact, I thought that it was ludicrous that this jackass thought he needed to clarify that his people wouldn't go onto the property and said so. And please note the "especially on your own property" distinction - meaning the rights should be the same whether on a public street or private property to leave your doors unlocked. And they are.

Also, this is no longer proposed since the moron proposing it was told he could not do it - and rightfully so.

Big Mack

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

hmmm... if he wants to cut down on the crime of drug users stealing stuff out of cars in known areas, how about a street camera and just arrest the drug users rather than fine the law abiding car owners?