Category Archives: Victimless Crimes

Its a crime that takes just a matter of moments to occur but sometimes thousands of dollars to fix, and its been creating quite a bit of havoc throughout the city in recent days.

Local police say they have investigated close to 30 incidents of theft of catalytic converters over the last 72 hours, occurring everywhere from outside restaurants and other local businesses to car dealerships and even a church.

Thieves come up with ways to make and get money, and right now, this is the big thing across the country, Kokomo Police Department Maj. Brian Seldon told the Tribune when asked about the uptick in this particular crime. Daytime, nighttime, it doesnt matter. Thieves know what theyre doing. They get in and get out, and you might not even see them.

Catalytic converters are a part of a vehicles exhaust system that seemingly converts bad exhaust into good exhaust, but its what inside those pieces of equipment that potential thieves want the most, Seldon added.

You have to have three precious metals to convert the bad fumes to good fumes, and those metals are platinum, palladium and rhodium, he said. Platinum can go for up to $1,000 an ounce, and palladium is sometimes up to three times more expensive. What you can get for rhodium is also very high. So you add all those together, and you can get a good amount of money.

And because catalytic converters can often be removed from a vehicle in less than a minute by using a tool like a reciprocating saw, these crimes are also hard to detect unless caught on surveillance footage or caught in the act, Seldon noted, though he did admit that parking in a garage or populated area whenever possible is one way to help deter the crime.

Youll know that your catalytic converter is gone if you start your car and it sounds like the mufflers missing, Seldon said. Itll make a loud noise. Thats how victims usually find out. But its hard to locate it (the catalytic converter) once its stolen because theres no identification when a person who stole them goes to sell them to the scrapyards or places like that.

Theres nothing identifying the catalytic converter to your vehicle, Seldon added. Theres no VIN number, so basically, any vehicle just sitting in a parking lot or on the street is susceptible.

Of course, there are vehicles that are often targeted more than others, Seldon noted, such as those whose underneath sides are higher off the ground like trucks or vans.

Auto dealerships are also easy targets, Seldon admitted, simply due to the abundance of vehicles in one space.

And while police said they are following up on all tips and leads in the investigation into who is behind this crime, Seldon said its also important to follow the old adage.

If you see something, say something.

Be aware of things you see, he said. If you see someone under a vehicle, for instance, in a place that you feel like is an unusual place for that to be happening, then perhaps you tell someone. You just have to be on alert because it can happen anytime and anywhere.

And its not a victimless crime either, as Sharon Daniel, executive director of New Life Church, learned for herself on Sunday.

Just hours after it was used to pick up and drop off parishioners for Sunday morning church services, somebody stole the catalytic converter off of the churchs 14-passenger bus.

Daniel said church officials were preparing to drive the bus down to Tennessee next week, but now theyre playing a waiting game.

We cant get the bus fixed in Kokomo, so we have to have it sent to the dealership in Lafayette, she said. I called because I hadnt heard back from them, and they are so backed up, they dont think they can even get an estimate to me yet. Then they said it depends on the supply chain as to how long it will take to get the parts so that we can get the bus back.

And that will cost the church money that Daniel said she believes should have been able to be spent differently.

I wish they (individuals who are stealing catalytic converters) would put as much effort into productive work as they put into work thats going to hurt others, she said. We will just have to make alternative plans. Thats just life, right? You just have to deal with it and move on and hope it doesnt happen again.

If you have any information or surveillance footage regarding the recent theft of catalytic converters, you can call the KPD Hotline at 765-456-7017.

You can also leave an anonymous tip for the department by using the tip411 app or by calling Central Indiana Crime Stoppers at 1-800-262-TIPS.

Read more here:

Police: Catalytic converter thefts on the rise | Police and Fire | kokomotribune.com - Kokomo Tribune

The Vatican Permanent Observer to the United Nations, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, states the Holy Sees position on crime prevention and criminal justice, international drug control, and on countering the use of ICTs for criminal purposes at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly.

By Lisa Zengarini

The dignity of the human person should necessarily be placed at the core of any policy and intervention that aims at preventing or prosecuting crimes. Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, made this point on Monday as he addressed the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly in New York discussing a number of items related to the 2021 UN Kyoto Declaration on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, and human rights issues.

In his remarks, the Vatican representative focused on two areas of particular concern for the Holy See: crimes that affect the environment and illicit drug-related activities. Regarding the first point, Archbishop Caccia noted that, although they are not always given due attention by law enforcement authorities, and are often perceived as victimless, environmental crimes cause enormous harm and exacerbate existing crises. He therefore insisted on the need to work together at all levels to care for our common home, as repeatedly called for by Pope Francis.

Speaking about drug-related activities, the Vatican Observer reaffirmed the Holy Sees stance against legalizing the consumption, as well as the production, manufacture, trafficking of any narcotic drug and psychotropic substance, in light of the serious threat they pose to individuals, families, and communities.

Drug use is always destructive and cannot be eradicated without serious efforts made to condemn and prevent not only their use and sale, but also the so-called drug culture and its associated behaviors.

According to the Holy See, the focus of society and law enforcement should therefore be on identifying trafficking networks and prosecuting major criminals, while also preventing drug use, with the aim of reducing drug production and consumption, no matter the stigma that might be associated with these efforts.

Prevention, he said, can be done through adequate and quality education, both within the family and at school, and by providing scientific information on how drugs affect the brain, body, and behavior, having a detrimental impact on the person, as well as on those close to him or her.

Archbishop Caccia also pointed out that effective anti-drug policies should always include compassionate support for those struggling with addiction.

Another item discussed on Monday by the UN Committee was that of the fight against the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) for criminal purposes.

In another statement on this issue, Archbishop Caccia noted that while the rapid development of ICTs has brought significant benefits, contributing to economic, cultural, and social development, their designing and use also comes with significant ethical implications, most notably the use of ICTs for exploitation and abuse, and their criminal use by terrorist groups in their radicalization efforts, recruitment, fundraising, training, tactics, communication, and cyber-attacks. Regarding the first point, he called particular attention to the production, distribution, and consumption of child pornography and other forms of child sexual abuse material.

Archbishop Caccia therefore expressed the the Vatican Delegations support for the elaboration of a comprehensive international convention on countering the use of ITCs for criminal purposes to reverse these negative trends and make sure they contribute to the betterment of the human person and the human family.

At the same time the Holy See maintains that any legislation aimed at regulating the design and use of ICTs should respect human dignity and universal human rights, including the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.

Read the original:

Holy See: Human dignity should be at the core of crime policies' - vaticannews.va

The fear of my bike being stolen prevents me from locking it up pretty much anywhere in public. I'll leave it at home, inside, and at work, inside. Anywhere else is pretty much out of bounds, and on the rare occasions I do cycle somewhere and lock it up, outside a pub, for example, I will be wracked with anxiety that I will return to an empty bike rack, or even just something missing.

We all know this worry; bike theft seems like one of those crimes that just seems legal nowadays, one of the many inevitable results of the austerity measures of the Conservative government, which has included stripping back the numbers of police.

An investigation bythe Daily Telegraphrecently found that in 87% of the 24,000 neighbourhoods that saw a reported bicycle theft in the last three years, not a single case was ever solved.

It is not only the fear of your bike being stolen that affects many, but the fact that you simply probably won't ever see your bike ever again, and even if you have some form of evidence or managed to track your bike down, police often do not have the resources or the wherewithal to act.

Our own Tom Davidson had his bike nicked from Hampstead Heath in the summer, and has given up any hope of getting it back. It is at the level where it is surely discouraging people from cycling, and you wonder how cycling will ever become popular in the UK with the amount of things seemingly working against it.

Faisal Islam, the BBC's economics editor, had his his case closed by police even though he had an internal tracker on it that showed where it was ferried in a vehicle to its final resting place in east London. [Police] closed the case the day after I reported it despite the fact the bike is still beaming its location, he tweeted. If they identify the vehicle, pretty strong basis to crack an entire gang.

This lack of action and hope over bike theft has been shown in recent figures from polling: a YouGov study (opens in new tab) showed that 77% of Britons who dont expect that the police will try and properly investigate bicycle theft, the highest level for any of the 15 crimes we asked about. Just one in nine Britons (11%) think the police would attempt to pursue leads and catch the culprit.

In London, a bike is reported stolenevery 16 minutes, with just 2.5% of cases resulting in arrests being made.It's no better in other areas of the country, with bike theft seemingly rife; I live in Bristol, a city notorious for bike crime, which discourages me from ever locking my bike up.

With reports of moped gangs threatening riders and stealing bikes doing the rounds in recent years, you can easily see how people would be put off from cycling, despite it often being the most convenient method of transport. I find myself using a hired e-scooter more often than my bike to get around town, almost only because I don't want to lock my bike up and find it gone.

Stealing someone's bicycle might seem like a minor crime to some, but it is not victimless. Someone might rely on their bike to get to work, to socialise, to help their mental health. As the cost of living crisis bites more, and fuel prices continue to rise, it is more likely that those on lower incomes might rely more on pedal power as a way of getting round. Take a bike, and that might ruin a life.

Of course, bike theft is far from the only crime that needs to be tackled more - burglaries and theft are among those that have an astonishingly low rate of charges brought, and sexual assault crimes still have a horrifically low conviction rate.

Even other crimes that affect cyclists, like dangerous driving and other offences by motorists, seem ludicrously easy to get away with.

A report recently released by HMICFRS the police watchdog said thatpolice forces are failing to adequately investigate cases of burglary, robbery and theft in England and Wales (opens in new tab). Recent Home Office figuresshow (opens in new tab)that, in the year to March 2022, just 6.3% of robbery offences and 4.1% of thefts in England and Wales resulted in charges.

All of this is not a simple argument for more police, or better resources given to the justice system; I am aware of the failings of the carceral state, and the problems with just putting more police on our streets. However, it would be nice if bike theft was taken seriously, and people felt able to cycle without fear of losing their steed at any moment. It's a silly meme, but crime really does need to be made illegal again.

A bike might just seem like any other possession, to some it might be just like having a television or some headphones, but it is more than that, it should be valued as much as a car. A bicycle is an emancipatory machine, remember. It should not be easy to steal bikes or have your bike stolen.

The utopia of a world in which you can leave your bike unattended without fear seems far away, so here are a few tips on how to secure it, and what to do if it is stolen.

Firstly, make sure you're using a proper lock, a D-lock if you can, with a separate chain for the wheels, anything to dissuade the would-be thief. Put it somewhere well lit and as public as possible, although this is not always a deterrent. All of this seems victim-centred, and it is - in an ideal world it wouldn't need to be - but it might just work.

Remove anything that can be easily removed from the bike, like lights, a saddlebag, bottles, or a mini-pump, because these can easily be snatched (I speak from experience here).

If you register your bike with BikeRegister and keep a note of its frame number, in the event that it is recovered, you can prove it is yours. Also consider getting bicycle insurance, so that in the sad event of your bike going missing, you can claim a new one as quickly as possible.

Crucially, if you bike does get stolen, make sure you report it. It might seem pointless, having just read all of the above, but if you don't report it, the police figures won't show how serious a problem it is, and resources might not be sent to help in the future. Think of it as helping out for the greater good.

Go here to see the original:

Why bike theft needs to be re-criminalised, urgently - CyclingWeekly

Wednesday 05 October 2022 4:35 pm

CPI is one of the most distorted figures reported by governments. In the US, CPI came in at 8.3% but Americans are experiencing inflation at much higher rates than the already steep 8-something percent.

By contrast, the cost of digital goods in the metaverse are witnessing a depression as risk-on assets nosedive. We have seen this so far this year in stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies. The macro environment of central bank tightening across most countries is the worst observed so far in this long-term debt cycle, a cycle typically lasting between 75-100 years. But despite the huge drops across these assets, how much lower can they go? Read on.

The median CPI recorded a 9.2% annual rate in August, the single highest monthly print in their dataset which starts in 1983 (second highest was in June).

The Fed can return to 2% inflation if it crashes all markets by creating the mother of all recessions by continuing to hike rates. This could create a worse financial crisis than 2008. Big banks would have to be allowed to fail which could include customers losing out on their deposits.

Interest rate hikes take time to impact inflation. The Fed is always behind the curve. CME Fed Futures now show two 75 bps hikes then a 50 bps hike in December, bringing the target FFR to 425-450. While higher rates curtail demand, the real issue is the supply side of the equation to which the Fed is ill-equipped to combat. Supply chain shocks due to COVID have largely contributed to inflation as have uneconomic global warming policies.

Everything is downstream from culture. Governments know this so use the mainstream media as a weapon to create FUD which, in turn, pushes politicians who want to be reelected to do what the misinformed, misguided, brainwashed public wants. The degree of disinformation on global warming, COVID, and nutrition, let alone drugs and sex is staggering.

So how did we get to where key important economic indicators are grossly misleading, to where central banks control fiat, and to where nation-states control and collapse freedom of movement and freedom of value transfer? The formula has been practiced by every dictator and corrupt government over the millennia. Focus on obvious issues that are emotional triggers such as terrorism, child trafficking, nuclear energy, kidnapping, or money laundering. Anchor the law to the protection of innocent victims even though the percentage of actual victims is at least an order of magnitude below common threats that get underreported. Then because the lawmakers now have the public on their side, they can easily enact laws that further remove our personal and economic rights.

Common threats that are not mainstream media fodder are vast and numerous yet get underreported. Such threats include record levels of teenage depression and suicide from overparenting #jonathanhaidt, domestic violence, kids getting sick on new viruses from degraded mask-induced immune systems, and kids malsocialized from nearly 2 years of lockdowns among numerous other issues. More than 1 in 5 teens is now obese due to the pandemic lockdowns.

In the world of trading, as one of many examples, eighths went to tinies which were then decimalized. This created more slippage for retail investors due to fewer market makers. In the world of economics, the printing of money debases fiat while assets rise in value, thus the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

Such could never exist in the metaverse which is decentralized. There are no central banks to debase your fiat. There are no governing bodies to freeze your fiat. There are no authoritarian political bodies that can lockdown the metaverse. Mainstream media is far less likely to brainwash the public as reporting the truth becomes economic as I wrote HERE.

There is a pandemic of disinformation on drugs, sex, politics, COVID, voting, investing, taxes, religion, & education. If you go against the cultural narrative, you may be labelled a conspiracy theorist.

On #metoo, you cant apply modern standards to yesterdays actions. Standards change. Cultures change. This does not excuse any form of abuse but many innocents have been thrown under the bus. We should therefore have #sextoo #drugstoo #justicesystemsurvivor for the millions of victims imprisoned or ruined for victimless crimes.

You also cant apply modern standards cross-culturally. What is legal in one culture is a crime in another, ie, use of marjiuana in California vs Hong Kong and China. Jackie Chans family has been disgraced because his son was smoking weed recreationally with a couple friends on a Friday night. Likewise, what is sexually celebrated or embraced in one culture may be demonised in another.

Dont forget that witches were once burned at the stake, many careers were ruined during Senator Joseph McCarthys Red Scare in the 1950s and 1960s, millions were and in some countries continue to get sent to prison for smoking weed, and countless were and are sent to prison for victimless sex crimes.

We should thank the whistle Blowers dating all the way back to Galileo and Copernicus up to contemporary times such as Snowden, Assange, Swartz, and Guccione who asked the courts, Why do kids cartoons depict violence #roadrunnershow yet sex which is the act from which we are made is demonised? #religion

Indeed, contradictions run rampant. Legendary musician Frank Zappa said, There is more stupidity around than hydrogen and it has a longer shelf life. I would add that hypocrisy often follows. Freedom is the use case of crypto that solves censorship and control via decentralization. Crypto breaks apart big pharma, big oil, big business, big philanthropy, and big .

Crypto has spawned the Web3 metaverse which will provide far greater freedoms to individuals than any other social system of governance. Hyper structures are being formed that exist as entirely on-chain crypto protocols that run for free and forever. They are unstoppable, running for as long as the underlying blockchain exists. They are permissionless and censorship resistant. They create a positive-sum ecosystem for its users.

Countless DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) are being created. Ones that are truly decentralized may also become hyper structures. They come with their own rules and live and die by their utility. Those DAOs that provide useful functionality will also be economic thus their token and NFT values will rise. Those that dont will founder. Uniswap is one such hyper structure. If the team and website were to disappear, the protocol would still run in perpetuity. Others include LexDAO which creates smart contracts that carry out legal services and BitDAO which allows anyone to participate in Web3 start-up funding.

The metaverse is growing exponentially regardless of where the price of bitcoin or valuations of the cryptospace go. Many continue to build out the metaverse. We most likely have yet to see the worst of the bear market. My calls for Bitcoin heading to $10k and major averages falling by at least 50% still stand until the Fed at the very least pivots to a dovish stance.

That said, there is no guarantee that stocks and crypto will find major lows once the Fed halts rate hikes. A halt to hikes probably comes by the end of the year once the FFR hits 400 bps or more.

High inflation will be far from resolved, far from the Feds target 2%, but near record levels of debt, personal insolvencies, crashing earnings, soaring unemployment, and broken supply chains will create the mother of all recessions unless the Fed finds a reason to halt rate hikes. The targeted 2% is a pipe dream. Instead, 4.5-5% is the new norm the Fed will set. Ray Dalio of Bridgewater had an informative view on this target range.

Even once they start to print money once again, this is no guarantee stock nor crypto markets will find major lows. In each of these bear markets, the discount rate was quickly reduced but the major averages continued to make new lows.

If they print massive sums as they did post-2008 after the great financial collapse or post Mar-2020 due to Covid-19, then roaring bull markets are possible. But printing such large sums seems less likely given the twin flame conflagrations of high inflation and near record debt.

Interest rates are also still well below historical norms. In other words, the Fed does not have inflation, debt, nor interest rates on its side to launch QE5. Such would likely end up pushing rates negative since interest rates are still relatively close to 0%. They may instead take a slower approach to at least prevent markets from rupturing further. Stagflation may be the standard for years to come, but the exponential growth of web3 metaverse technologies will press onwards and upwards.

(:B :B)

Dr Chris Kacher, PhD nuclear physics UC Berkeley/record breaking KPMG audited accts in stocks & crypto/bestselling author/top 40 charted musician/blockchain fintech specialist. Co-founder of Virtue of Selfish Investing, TriQuantum Technologies, and Hanse Digital Access. Dr Kacher bought his first Bitcoin at just over $10 in January-2013 and contributed to early Ethereum dev meetings in London hosted by Vitalik Buterin. His metrics have called every major top & bottom in Bitcoin since 2011 to within a few weeks. He was up in 2018 vs the avg performing crypto hedge fund (-54%) [PwC] and is up well ahead of Bitcoin & alt coins over the cycles as capital is force fed into the top performing alt coins while weaker ones are sold.

Website 1 of 4: Virtue of Selfish Investing Crypto Reports

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chriskacher/

Company 1 of 3: TriQuantum Technologies: Hanse Digital Access

Twitter1: https://twitter.com/VSInvesting/

Twitter2: https://twitter.com/HanseCoin

Encyclopedia1: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Kacher

Encyclopedia2: https://everipedia.org/wiki/lang_en/Chris_Kacher

Author: https://www.amazon.com/author/chriskacher

Composer: https://music.apple.com/us/album/teardrop-rain/334012790

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/teardropofficial

Interviews & Articles: https://www.virtueofselfishinvesting.com/news

Read more:

Outrageous raging inflation, and the distortion of CPI - City A.M.

Whats Quickly? Its where readers sound off on the issues of the day. Have a quote, question or quip? Call Quickly at 312-222-2426 or email quickly@post-trib.com.

Of course, Donald Trump is appealing to the Supreme Court to help with his stolen document case. He appointed them, and now its payback time. That seems to be the way the con artist and former president typically does business.

With Halloween approaching, Ive got my costume ready. Ive got a Trump hat lined with tin foil, an official phony Navy Seal tactical vest, a dummy AR-15 rifle complete with extended magazine, and a tactical belt for carrying bear spray. For yard decorations, I have numerous Trump signs and flags, with recordings of Trump and Alex Jones for sound effects. Rounding out the theme are Trump PAC donation forms to hand out in lieu of candy for trick-or-treaters. This completes my portrayal of a typical MAGA Zombie.

Herschel Walkers son exposed him as an absentee father that is running on family values, when he abused his family, ran after other women, and paid for an abortion.And like clockwork, the Republican Party rallies around their candidate, because they feel like HE is the victim here.But in the Republican World, allof their candidates have skeletons in their closets, or they wouldnt even be considered worthy.

White evangelical Conservative Christians in Georgia would rather vote for the domestic abuser who paid for an abortion, over the literal reverend, is all the proof that you need that its allabout power and control to them, and nothing to do about Christianity.

Last year the Supreme Court struck down part of the Voting Rights Act that protected voting rights for Blacks and other minorities. Then they struck down Roe v. Wade that took a right from women. Now before them is a gay persons rights to be treated fairly at a place of business which will probably be struck down. Whats next? Childs rights? Disabled peoples rights? The only way to stop this is never vote for a Republican for anything. Not even dog catcher.

Gambling has become a very addictive for many people.Visits to the casino boats becomes an almost daily existence.Now we are all being bombarded with ads on TV and social mediawith gambling sites for every sporting event. Our young people will start betting on games with every dollar they earn or have saved. They are beingbrainwashedinto thinking the odds are in their favor, and they should just try it out.This is how real addictions start and should not be glorified.

If the President didnt use the emergency gas reserves, the prices never would of come down. Now there is 25% left in Reserves and OPEC has lowered the amounts. Here we are. Wait until you get your natural gas heating bills.

I am usually an optimist. My concern, however, centers around the fact that it is becoming increasingly more difficult to feel good about our countrys ethics, especially in the political arena. We all know there is nothing new about telling a lie. However, in the past there was usually some kind of penalty, or at least the individual appeared to be remorseful. Currently, there appears to be no repentance or guilt feelings. In some cases, lying is even celebrated at our highest levels. Former President Trump lies almost daily but is still supported by approximately 70% of Republican voters. Supreme Court justices have said one thing during their hearings but changed their minds after being seated. Georgia Senate candidateHerschelWalker has been caught in lie after lie yet he is still strong in the Republican polls. We must speak out and act against lying. Someone once said When the truth is replaced by silence, silence becomes a lie! It is critical to remember that America was built on optimism, not lying!

I dont think this is much of a stretch, but no one is talking about it. Everyone knows Trump did not read his daily briefings and most of the policy documents presented to him. So why, pray tell, would Donald Trump have taken thousands of secret documents with him to Florida? Based on all he did as president, this is my opinion. Every one of those documents do one of two things. They will either help Trump financially or they contain information that Trump can use to attack his political enemies. Thats it. That is all he cares about. Trump is as predicable as sunrise. Bet on it.

All of this talk inQuicklyof the victimless crimes from Donald Trumps hypothetical crimes? What about the real world, like the Joe Biden crimes and what he has done to my Medicare, my Social Security, my stock market holdings which are my pension and worst of all this worst inflation in over 40 years? Talk about real life crimes Joe Biden has black belt in crime creations. The price of everything I buy has doubled under Joe Biden crimes!

Read more at http://www.post-trib.com/opinion.

Go here to see the original:

Quickly: Readers sound off on the issues of the day - Chicago Tribune

But retailers will hope for a change in approach as Sir Mark Rowley, the new Met Commissioner, puts together his plan to drive down crime in the capital. His reforms are aiming to restore trust and confidence in the force, with a renewed emphasis on tackling burglary and robbery.

He said he was upset that an attitude had been allowed to develop in which theres no point in ringing the police.

We have to be paying attention to a full range of crimes, Sir Mark told the Sunday Times.

A strategy that the Met could look to emulate is the creation of shoplifting squads, a scheme introduced by Sussex Police which led to twice as many shoplifting offences being solved.

The retail crime unit of nine officers, led by a sergeant, is thought to be the first in the country dedicated solely to investigating shoplifting and building a database of prolific offenders. By creating a specialist unit, it meant officers were not being distracted by other tasks.

Kit Malthouse, the Education Secretary who at the time was policing minister wrote to every chief constable in September 2020 ordering them to stop effectively decriminalising thefts under 200 and that they can and should prosecute thieves who steal low-value items.

Mr Malthouse told The Telegraph: Shoplifting is far from being a victimless crime. It can seriously damage our small businesses, and the thuggery that often comes with it can have a profound impact on victims as well as the wider community.

We are working to outsmart these petty criminals, and it is local initiatives like this one by Sussex Police which, alongside our world-beating GPS tagging of offenders, are key to making our streets safer.

Chris Neilson, Sussex Polices lead on business crime, said the scheme was creating a closer tie between businesses and officers.

They have the connectivity into individual CCTV control rooms, the managers in the local stores. They build relationships and that then builds confidence. It also increases our capability to identify offenders. We focus on the prolific thieves committing the most offences and harm.

Read this article:

Fortnum and Mason 'gives up on police catching shoplifters' - The Telegraph

Every day the Republican governors of Texas, Greg Abbott, and Florida, Ron DeSantis, eagerly announce that they are sending people generically labeled as migrants to what are known as sanctuary cities. The corporate media report that thousands of people have been convinced to board buses to New York City or Washington DC or Sacramento or Chicago or even chartered flights to Marthas Vineyard, Massachusetts. What they dont explain is who these migrants are and why their status is highly problematic and a function of imperialist foreign policy.

Republicans rail against what are called sanctuary cities and imply that federal law doesnt apply in these places or that undocumented people get some sort of special deal. However, the term sanctuary city doesnt really mean very much. In New York it means that the city government and its employees will not assist in the deportation process. It does not mean that no one is ever deported or that federal rules dont apply. Undocumented people are eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other benefits only under very limited circumstances and applying in a sanctuary city doesnt change that fact. The media cannot seem to disseminate this easily provable information and people in this country are whipped into a frenzy over non-issues.

But there is a larger issue at work here that also goes unaddressed. The people taken to Marthas Vineyard have made legal requests for asylum, which may be granted because of U.S. policy against their home country of Venezuela. Migrants from nations targeted by the U.S. are automatically eligible for asylum. In this hemisphere Venezuelans, Cubans, and Nicaraguans are likely to be granted asylum because the U.S. doesnt like their governments. Ukrainians are favored because the U.S. supports their governments role in attacking Russia and they are also given asylum when they arrive at the border. Some100,000 Ukrainianshave arrived here since February 2022.

Conversely, Haitians are routinely deported. Their country is in worse shape than any of the others mentioned and entirely because of U.S. interference in their sovereign rights. In 2010 the Obama administrationevenordered Haiti to hold an electiontwice because they didnt like the initial result.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton famously pressured the Haitian government to lower the already low minimum wage there. Now the U.S. orders the current illegitimate president Ariel Henry to enact austerity programs that create misery. The U.S. coups,UN occupations and other interventionshavemade Haiti unlivable.

But the Joe Biden administration has no sympathy for Haitians fleeing the problems of U.S making. As of February 2022 more than19,000 Haitianswere deported in the first year of Bidens term. That figure is more than three times the number deported in the last three administrations combined.

Not only do Abbott and DeSantis lie about who they are sending around the country, but no one in the media calls them out on their subterfuge. They are scoring points by claiming to send undocumented people when they are in fact sending people who under international law have a legal right to request asylumin the U.S.

The corporate media are complicit because they are joined at the hip with the Biden administration. Sloppy reporting is not a problem for them. Pointing out the inherent injustice of U.S. sanctions against Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela might damage precious connections and white house access. Any responsibility for informing readers and viewers doesnt matter and journalistic ethics go out the window so that the media can be slipshod and curry favor simultaneously.

The topic of immigration is very complicated but serious issues cant be addressed if one party is devoted to opposing migration as a fund raising and vote getting strategy. Of course, republicans are also wedded to the idea of fighting socialist governments in this hemisphere and say nothing about the people arriving here because they support these policies. Abbott and DeSantis would have a lot of explaining to do if they admitted that they support giving asylum to Venezuelans while also behaving as if they dont.

Democrats on the other hand talk out of both sides of their mouths. They may say they are more compassionate but in the end they are no different from the republicans, as we see in Bidens deportations to Haiti. Bill Clinton made all non-citizens eligible for deportation if they commit felonies that are all too often victimless, minor crimes. Every democratic president built portions of the border wall that became identified with Donald Trump, includingJoe Bidenwho was sold as the harm reduction candidate.

There is no harm reduction under imperialism. Inevitably it favors the people of one country over another, and humans are reduced to being used to further U.S. foreign policy interests. The duopoly cant resolve immigration issues for the same reason they dont resolve anything else. They serve the needs of the oligarchy and virtue signal to various constituency groups whose needs arent met by them either. People migrating for a variety of reasons become tools to be used at election time and not as humans whose needs can and should be addressed.

See the article here:

Asylum, Migration And US Foreign Policy OpEd - Eurasia Review

The economy, trust, and violence are all prominent topics in the news, and they might provide valuable perspectives on the future of organized retail crime (ORC). Looking backward, we can anticipate the future, but the conclusion isnt encouraging. Historical evidence shows that abundant stolen goods markets, low government confidence, and high inflation lead to an increase in both property and violent crimes.

Today, its still unclear how severe the property crime problem is; however, most experts agree it is severely under-estimated due to underreporting. Its clear that retailers, legislators, and regulatory bodies are on the clock and must work together to find solutions before its too late.

Theft data cannot be relied upon without a significant change in how it is collected. A leading specialty clothing company polled in 2021 found approximately $1.7 million in losses due to organized retail crime that went unreported to the police. On average, the ten global and national businesses surveyed estimated that fewer than 10 percent of ORC incidents were reported to the police during the same period.

Detective Mike Zacher investigates property crimes in the Portland Metro Area. When asked about the underreporting, Zacher said, there are several reasons for this resistance to reporting, the most significant being that retailers may have seen little to no response from law enforcement in certain jurisdictions in the past. This lack of response may be due to several factors for law enforcement, including understaffing, higher priority calls for service, and lack of follow-up from past theft reports. Loss prevention and associates at retailers may have their own internal rules and regulations regarding contacting the police or security.

As a result, retailers are often reluctant to invest time and resources into reporting what they see as low-priority crimes or instances not likely to be investigated. The lack of reporting makes it difficult for investigators to link suspects with multiple thefts and for politicians to pass legitimate, sustainable, and relevant property crime laws. Without more accurate data, it will be challenging to progress in combating this problem that could grow much worse.

Its challenging to build cases on ORC suspects with little information on the totality of losses across different retailers. Failing to report thefts skews uniform crime reporting statistics by making it appear that thefts and other property-related crimes are decreasing when that is not the case. The message is that retailers need to continue reporting their crimes, Zacher said.

What percentage of ORC goes unreported? We dont know. Companies are not required to disclose ORC incidents, with most of them incorporating ORC incidents in their yearly losses or shrink. Most retailers treat major ORC crimes as a cost of doing businessbut its sometimes too costly.

During 2021-2022 many significant retailers continued to close their locations due to shoplifting, with San Francisco and Portland in particular catching media attention. Many politicians and news outlets quickly chastised the reasoning, claiming that the retailers statements were unfounded while, at the same time, shedding light on the brazenness of the ORC incidents that were occurring.

When Walgreens announced they were closing locations due to shoplifting in 2021, the San Francisco police department fought back, stating the specific location only had seven reported shoplifting incidents this year and a total of 23 since 2018. They further added that Walgreens had fewer than two recorded shoplifting incidents a month on average since 2018. On the contrary, a security guard from Walgreens near the closed store said they see anywhere from 10-50 shoplifting incidents daily. San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said, The statistics are counter to the narrative, while also recognizing that some crimes may go unreported. Therein lies the problemwe cannot trust the numbers, and trust is essential.

Trust is the glue that holds society together. While many factors contribute to social cohesion, trust is undoubtedly essential. When people trust their institutionswhether the government, the police, or the banking systemthey are more likely to obey the law and follow social norms. On the other hand, when people lack trust in these institutions, they are more likely to engage in criminal behavior.

Todays governmental trust is at historic lows. Since the end of World War II, institutional confidence in the United States has been declining. A society with low trust may have far-reaching consequences for day-to-day life. Distrust encourages conflict and animosity, which are the building blocks of violence. Weve seen this play out in several ways recently, with a rise in mass shootings, steep increases in racially motivated crimes, and an increase in so-called lone wolf assaults.

According to the evidence, low levels of trust are linked to higher theft rates. Areport published by the Urban Institute discovered that people who reported having less faith in society were more likely to admit to shoplifting. Other studies have found similar results, suggesting a significant relationship between trust and property theft.

This lack of trust is not limited to the government and extends to other institutions. According to The Reagan National Defense Survey, fewer than half of Americans say they have confidence in the military, and only about one-third say the same about the Supreme Court.

There is no quick solution to this issue, but trust is crucial for any society to function smoothly without crime. Trust may be challenging to come by with an increasingly probable economic downturn.

The unemployment rate has long been used as a predictor of criminal behavior, arguing that criminals will be more eager in conditions of high unemployment. This idea has come under fire in recent years, primarily due to the Great Recession of 2008. During this time, crime rates trended down or remained flat, despite the high unemployment rate. The decline led some experts to suggest that inflation may play a more significant role in property theft than the economys overall health. Inflation rates were low during the recession, which may explain why crime rates did not spike as predicted. Richard Rosenfeld first proposed this theory in 2008, gaining traction among experts in the field.

Recently, there has been a renewed interest in the relationship between inflation and crime rates as inflation hits 40-year highs in the United States. During sustained inflation in the 1970s, crime rates in the United States rose dramatically. The link between inflation and crime results from a decrease in peoples purchasing power, leading to greater dissatisfaction and desperation among those already cash strapped. Inflation and crime have a long and complicated history.

Following World War I in Germany, there was a period of hyperinflation that increased violent crimes. Inflation rose significantly throughout Europe and the United States from the early 1980s through 2010, resulting in an upswing in criminal activity. After severe inflation hit Argentina and Venezuela, political instability and increased criminality prevailed. Inflation can contribute to a climate that promotes crime because it may lead to social upheaval and chaos.

Richard Rosenfeld, a professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis stated, Inflation is a public safety concern. The research suggests that as prices rise, crimes, especially those committed to obtaining something of value, rise.

Inflation can harm everyone, but according to a Bank of American Institute study, it typically affects low-income families, minorities, and rural Americans the most, exacerbating inequality and a higher need for cheaper goods. Low-income families are frequently exposed to items particularly impacted by inflation, such as energy and food, leading some to a more affordable stolen goods market.

As the price of goods rises, so does the cost of stolen goods on the secondary market. This market provides a built-in mechanism for inflation to lead to higher crime rates. Thus, while inflation may not be the primary cause of crime, it can contribute to increased criminal activity. As prices rise, the demand for cheap stolen goods grows, strengthening incentives to increase the supply of stolen merchandise and fence locations to sell them.

A study conducted at the University of Warwick concluded that the size of the stolen goods market directly influenced criminal activity in a region. The London School of Economics found the theft of stolen products decreases when there are no locations to sell them. Both studies concluded most criminals are looking for financial gain, and when there are no locations to sell stolen products, they are less likely to be stolen. A growing body of evidence suggests that illegal fencing locations play a significant role in the crime rate, with the size of the stolen goods market directly related to the level of crime in an area. The data suggests reducing the market size could lead to a reduction in crime rates. While more research is needed, the data provides a compelling case for stolen goods markets role in the crime, and some of the biggest online marketplaces should take notice.

Many in the general public are unaware companies like eBay and Amazon are used as a marketplace to sell stolen goods. Stolen goods marketplaces, or fences, are now largely immune from legal action. Historically, the penalty for trading stolen goods has been minimal, and the risk of being discovered even lower. Furthermore, e-commerce giants such as eBay and Amazon are not companies that can be criminally charged in most circumstances.

Critics claim that while companies like Amazon, eBay, and Facebook have tried to address the problem, more is needed. One of the most prominent concerns is that these sites dont provide enough information about where the items originated. Due to the lack of transparency, detecting stolen items and taking action against vendors becomes difficult.

The lack of communication between the platforms and law enforcement makes solving fraud and abuse cases difficult. The bottom line is that strict actions must be taken to prevent these illicit activities from happening on these prominent digital marketplaces.

What fuels this as an enterprise is the ease of reselling stolen merchandise on online marketplaces, said Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. Its no longer the age where its done at flea markets, in the alley, or parking lots.

A growing body of evidence suggests that retail crime can lead to violent crime. Studies have found that nearly one-third of respondents who had been involved in retail crime said they had also committed a violent crime, suggesting a direct link between the two types of criminal activity:

1. Retail crimes are often committed by those looking for financial gain.2. Offenders use violence to accomplish financial gain.

The studys findings highlight the importance of addressing the stolen goods market criminals use to benefit from their crimes financially. Although some local stolen goods markets may operate independently, many are linked to more extensive and sophisticated organized criminal enterprises. These markets sometimes provide a venue for selling stolen goods obtained through burglaries, robberies, and other property crimes. In other cases, the stolen goods may be part of a more extensive illegal operation, such as trafficking illicit drugs or weapons. In either case, the presence of a local stolen goods market can significantly impact public safety.

According to the FBIs Uniform Crime Report, commercial robberies have doubled in 2022 compared to 2021. Since the onset of the inflation problem, New York City robberies are up 48 percent, burglaries are up 32 percent, and larcenies are up 57 percent. Rosenfeld said, These kinds of crimes we expect to increase due to a large rise in inflation, which weve seen in the United States for many months. He said that with the rising cost of living, people are more likely to resort to desperate measures to make ends meet. Fiscal challenges and inflation often lead to higher unemployment rates, creating a perfect storm for increased criminal activity.

Some call for immediate action based on the assumption that policies and laws are to blame. It is critical to note that these policies could be based on inaccurate data. The data is simply awful, said one loss prevention specialist. According to all retailers surveyed, ORC incidents have increased, and many incidents have gone unreported, meaning the accurate scale is unknown. Scott Glenn, vice president of asset protection at The Home Depot, was quoted in a CNBC interview saying, Previously, I thought maybe it was a little bit overblown, Ive seen it in real life. Ive seen it growing. Ive seen the impact of it. Ive seen the videos of it. Ive seen all the different cases and the files we have over this. And so, it is not only growing over the past five years, I would say its grown incrementally over the past two, during the pandemic.

In the wake of recent protests and riots, many cities have taken a hard stance against retail crime. This stance has led to increased task forces and strategies to combat these crimes. However, some feel this is not a sustainable solution.

One loss prevention professional stated, The solution needs to start with the numbers. The public and our policymakers need to see what is out there and how bad the problem is. Without the data, there will continue to be a cyclical approach to this problem, only focusing on one facet.

Disagreement over the data and the ORC problem amongst insiders is business as usual. Many in the industry have publicly argued that the numbers do not support what they see daily; retailers losses are massive and widespread. The National Retail Federation (NRF) has estimated losses from organized retail theft only average $700k / $1B in sales (.07 percent of total sales). Only .07 cents per $100 of sales sounds more like a tax than a problem, stated a mail goer that was surveyed.

Fiscally it is a small problem sentiment could be why so many in the industry disagree with the NRF and estimate the losses are significantly higher. The truth, like most things, the reality is probably in the middle. Data moves the needle, and the answer to a sustainable solution can not lie in sensational or clickbait headlines.

A case-based surveillance process collects crime data similar to COVID-19 data. We count every case, and thats just not accurate anymore, said Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials [Link]. With rapid at-home Covid tests, Americans can now privately know whether they are infected with the coronavirus yet are not required to report the infection affecting the data accuracy. There is no longer an aggregate total of cases to base strategy onlike ORC today.

Policymakers are noticing. Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin co-authored the original Bill for the INFORM Consumers Act, requiring some sellers on sites such as Amazon, eBay, and Metas Facebook Marketplace to provide a verifiable bank account, tax I.D., and working contact information. The House has passed the Bill and is awaiting a vote in the Senate. The Bill can help law enforcement identify, investigate, and prosecute illegal activity online by providing better tools and information about who is behind online postings. It would also help to protect consumers by ensuring that they have recourse if they are defrauded or otherwise harmed by someone theyve interacted with online.

The legislation aims to protect consumers from fraud and other illegal activity related to online marketplaces. The Bill has received support from several consumer advocacy groups. If it passes the Senate and is signed into law, it would take effect 180 days later.

Public opinion is now in the retailers corner. If opinion holds, law enforcement can enforce larceny laws, and our D.A.s are willing to prosecute, retailers need to provide the data to support all involved to take the upper hand. There are still a lot of ifs, and only time will tell. The retail industry will need to supply their meaningful theft data to the local government as ORC thefts fade into social media archives to ensure the unreported majority have their voices heard.

The pandemic has shown how data can be tricky. Are COVID-19 hospitalizations rising, or are people entering the hospital for unrelated reasons and incidentally testing positive for the virus? Case and incident counts have played a paramount role in shaping the policy responses for ORC and COVID-19. If our retailers resist supplying meaningful and measurable data to local and state decision-makers, a comprehensive strategy shift in policy is an excellent place to start.

We must continue seeking statistical information to forecast crime rates as an industry. Such efforts generate insights into societal and economic factors contributing to criminal incentives producing more criminal offenders.

Given the substantial evidence showing that inflation increases crime, ORC is underreported, and violence is a byproduct of retail theft, public safety must now be an immediate objective of US monetary policy and major retailers alike. We should shift the focus from the act of dishonesty to monetary and risk-based policy.

Studies show dishonesty, in all forms, is not a moral dilemma but a risk assessment; a weighting of benefits versus cost (likelihood of being caught or severity of punishment). Have you ever not paid for parking? Did you rationalize its morality or the possibility of being caught? Not paying for parking is stealing and inherently dishonest, yet we all justify the crime as victimless.

Theft from a retail company is still seen today as a victimless crime with a low likelihood of punishment. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but we can learn from dishonesty and accept it as a fundamental part of the human condition. We have yet to connect the dots to show how closely retail theft negatively affects our society.

There are victimsand they are all of us! Without education, understanding, and a shift away from knee-jerk-driven policy focusing on offenders versus those financially benefiting, we will continue to be unable to connect the dots with the key stakeholders. Managing theft cannot be solved in silos.

Alexander Snyder is an experienced regional security manager, having worked for multiple global NYSE-listed corporations. He has managed security operations in six time zones and assisted in many global security operation initiatives. He is a contributor to various online and print media outlets specializing in Loss Prevention.

Continue reading here:

The Victims of a Victimless Crime: The Future of Organized Retail Crime - Loss Prevention Magazine

Sheriff Judd provided details on the arrests, which included school teachers, a Disney employee, a state corrections officer and a deputy police chief from Georgia.

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. Two human trafficking victims were identified during an undercover investigation that focused on sex crimes in Polk County, according to the agency.

Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference Friday discussing the arrests of 160 people, including school teachers, a Disney employee, a state corrections officer, and a deputy police chief from Georgia at theSheriff's Operation Center in Winter Haven.

Along with those who have admitted to being victims, deputies suspect there are five other possible trafficked victims, however, those individuals have not admitted to being victims.

"What's really really important to us, is not just that we have a police operation because we had a successful police operation. But we are trying to identify the victims of human trafficking," Judd said during the news conference.

He said the goal of the operation is to put potential victims in contact with social services.

Judd later went on to give details about specific individuals who stuck out during the investigation, such as 49-year-old Jason DiPrima of Kingston, Georgia. DiPrima was deputy chief of police administration for the Cartersville Police Department in Georgia. He recently resigned from the department, Judd said.

Only 16 of the people arrested were from Polk County, everyone else was from out of town.

"The online prostitution industry enables traffickers and allows for the continued victimization of those who are being trafficked," Judd said in an earlier statement.

He continued, "Our goal is to identify victims, offer them help, and arrest those who are fueling the exploitation of human beings (Johns) and those profiting from the exploitation of human beings. Prostitution is not a victimless crime it results in exploitation, disease, dysfunction, drug and alcohol addiction, violence, and broken families."

Representatives from other social services organizations were in attendance. One More Child, Heartland for Children, My Name My Voice and the Children's Home Society of Florida participated in the operation to help identify potential victims.

View post:

2 people identified as human trafficking victims in Polk County | wtsp.com

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- Mothers Against Drug Deaths hosted a rally Sunday on the first National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day at San Francisco City Hall where they were joined by community leaders and other advocates calling for tougher policies to reduce overdose deaths.

"Trevor was a wonderful human being with a beautiful heart," said Michelle Leopold. She lost her son in 2019 to a fentanyl overdose. He was 18 at the time.

"I know that there's a lot of stigma around addiction that needs to be changed," she added.

Leopold was one of the speakers at Sunday's rally. She said that her business has suffered from increased shoplifting from drug users trying to sell those stolen items to buy narcotics. Her son tried to get oxycodone the day he died but a toxicology report showed only fentanyl in his system.

"It's not a parenting problem. Just like when you get cancer it's not a parenting problem, it's a disease and addiction is a disease," she explained.

Speakers included the new district attorney for San Francisco Brooke Jenkins who said that they are at war with fentanyl and her department will now work with the police department to prosecute cases. She said her new policies target fentanyl dealers and she emphasized these are not victimless crimes.

"We are going to make sure that, for those who are struggling with substance abuse, that we get them help," Jenkins said. "This is not a war on addicts. This is not a war on some of our most vulnerable San Franciscans who need our help."

Several city supervisors expressed their support for policies that include ending homeless encampments and an open-air drug market. They acknowledged not everyone on the board of supervisors agrees on this issue.

"This is an important rally. This is led by people that are feeling pain on a daily basis," said Supervisor Ahsha Safai of District 11. "I'm here to listen, I'm here to do better and we're going to try and turn this crisis around in this city."

While the members of MADD wanted to see a tougher response by city and state leaders, they also want to encourage their community to learn more about how to save lives.

Leopold will be giving out free supplies of Narcan, the medication that, when used correctly, can reverse the effects of an overdose. She owns multiple stores and will distribute the product at different locations and will train people on how to use it over the next 10 days.

"I thought I'd be teaching my son about the world but I'm teaching the world about my son," Leopold said.

Shawn Chitnis joined the KPIX 5 news team in October 2021 after spending more than 6 years with our sister station CBS4 Denver.

See more here:

Parents of fentanyl victims rally in San Francisco - CBS San Francisco