Meeting on street crime surge

LillithofArc said:

I assure you that this is a difficult decision for me but you only need look to the prison statistics to understand my plight. The majority of the people in prisons and jails in the city are of minority descent. I believe there is something inherently wrong with our judicial system. It is rigged to punish those who are less affluent and to coddle those with the proper resources. Please do not get me wrong and assume that I am for the criminal element. Not so. I made a personal decision regarding these youthful offenders that I take full responsibility for. I am hoping that a larger police presence in our neighborhood will make these youngsters think twice about leading a life of crime.

Let me point out that this crime happened in Park Slope.

Heads up it is time for a new user to create an account that in some way paints himself as either a vigilante, or a bleeding heart.

Gasp, maybe he will change his routine now that it is so obvious.

Hobbies, we all need hobbies.

Whynot,

My landlord is refusing to buy gates for my fire escape windows (I have two windows that lead to different fire escapes. I can't afford to buy them for myself at the moment. Can you explain what you mean by pinning a window? Just keeping those windows closed and locked doesn't feel like enough to me.

Thanks.

xlizellx's pole techique is a valid one, but a little different than what I was thinking.

DIY can explain it better than I

http://www.diylife.com/2007/10/29/window-pins-keep-burglars-at-bay/

One can install pins (or bolts) so the window will open, but not enough for someone to get in. Sorry to be scary, but this allows one to have a little more security, perhaps enough to keep the window open while one is asleep or at work.

Of course the best thing to do is keep the window by the fire escape locked at all times, but -who are we kidding- it is hot out.

In addition to picking windows that are unlocked, thieves also tend to pick apartments where they can see the nice electronics inside. If you want to go the extra mile, keep a shade drawn at the fire escape window.

...that way the mid-day thief who gets access to your fire escape, hopefully won't find your apartment as appealing as others.

P.S. Because you are blocking a fire escape, please use a bolt or nail that can be easily and quickly removed from the inside in case of a fire. Double headed nails are ideal. One drills a hole, then slides them in. One does not hammer or screw them in!

Thanks for the advice. The fire escape window always has a curtain over it and it is closed and locked, but I like the idea of also using a pole of some sort. When I am home I have a (small) dog who would certainly alert me or the significant other if someone were to come in. While we're out he does have a big crate, but he would bark like all heck if someone broke into the place. Hopefully between the poles and the dog barking, a thief would decide to move onto easier spots.

This may be splitting hairs, but maybe the stick would be even more secure if it were placed diagonally?

Pinning windows isn't illegal so long as the pins can be removed easily in case of an emergency to provide a quick exit. Rather than pinning the windows so that they are open, I prefer pinning them while closed. Literally you drill a hole directly into the window frame while the window is closed and slip the pin/nail into the hole. So long as you can insert and remove the pin/nail without twisting, wrenching, etc. You are good to go.

Easiest way to accomplish this is to use a drill bit slightly larger than the pin/nail. If you want to pin while they are open just drill a second set of holes in the upper window frame at the point at which you want to stop the window. You can then pin the window in an open or closed position.

Pinning means neither human or raccoon can slide open a window.

If the window is locked via the sash lock everything holds together quite nicely. The sash lock holds the window panes securely together while the stick holds the bottom window in place. The lock prevents the movement of the top window pane while the stick prevents the movement of the lower window pane. Trust me when I say it works and it is easy to implement.

Clinton Hill sounds like it caught it's burglar.

According to you there is only one burglar operating at any given time in any specific neighborhood. Sure, according to you all our woes are solved. (rolling my eyes) Please stick to making jokes about my dead cat.

Not a fan of the judicial system but the problems minorities face in urban areas are much more systematic, widespread and run much deeper than simply the treatment they receive in the system.

Coming from a once "thug" (no person on person crimes) I can say that I knew the difference between stealing motorcycles and not. These types of individuals simply don't fear the consequences enough to edit their behavioral decisions.

Lillith you were a mark, and they knew that there would be little chance of them being caught even if you did report the incident.

There isn't an excuse (there are however causes) for these types of crimes based on where a person grows up. I know literally hundreds of minorities living all over the city that were raised in all types of environments, the slight majority I'd say grew up in what would be considered "bad areas." None of them, that I know of, rob people.

Those youths, if caught would have been punished. After that it becomes their choice to reach out to the resources available to them, or simply make a decision that future, more sever consequences aren't worth the risk of repeating similar crimes.

As members of a community reporting information to the appropriate authorities helps us all, including those committing crimes. Wether your robbing, ripping tree branches down or raping, being punished exposes you to (at least) the bare minimum of support and a chance to change. Also punishment as well all know has been proven to discourage unwanted behaviors.

The information we offer to various agencies and authorities allows them to do their jobs and serve the community better. What if that area is a hotbed for crime do to low light levels, lack of cameras, and the demographics of people traveling through?

There are times when stop snitching applies but this is not one of them.

The effectiveness of America's criminal justice system and over-crowded jails is extremely uncertain.

People can take whatever position they want, but don't pretend like there isn't strong arguments on the other side.

Recidivism is a huge problem that we as a society willfully ignore.

Argue that getting them off the street now is better than preventing violent recidivism later, but don't pretend like this isn't a legitimate debate.

whynot_31 said:

We don't have to send people to prison because it is good for them. We can send them to prison because we think it is good for us.

I guess we can also send criminals to prison because we haven't figured out what else to do with them.

...or because we are too short sighted to invest in education and other things that might change their ways, or give them other options.

We can even send criminals to prison while simultaneously admiring and supporting of places like Vera, that strive to make make our criminal justice system work a little better. http://www.vera.org/

After all, if we waited for things to be perfect before we did anything, we would never do anything.

I think it is reasonable to expect people to "do the best with what they have, while working for something better". If we had a better criminal justice system, I would use it. Until then, let's use the one we have and work to improve it.

The meeting hasn't happened yet. It's this Thursday at 7pm.

Crap, don't remind Lilith, she'll go to the meeting thinking it's about Park Slope!

I came home tonight to find the aftermath of an iphone snatch 'n grab gone wrong (for the perp) on Sterling near Butler. Several quick-footed neighbors chased him down and detained him after the woman whose phone he stole yelled "Stop, thief!" Police arrived in about 4-5 minutes and took him away. Good work, neighbors & the 77th!