Chicago police under fire after 'bait truck' used to lure thieves

Diddums

Diddums

Diddums

Caporegime
Joined
24 Oct 2012
Posts
26,451
Location
Yer nan's knickers
@dowie is clearly not performing today so I'll take this one for the team. This is an interesting one, these cops are trying to reduce crime in a certain area by using bait and they get told off because it's in a poorer area with more black people and they're inciting racism or some such nonsense.

I don't see the problem tbh. If you don't want to get seen as a crim, then don't steal. It's not really rocket science, is it? Does your skin colour have anything to do with it? Nope. Nope, it doesn't. The race card seems to be a get-out-of-jail-free card nowadays, the cops in Murica tend to just stop whatever they're doing as soon as someone plays it, because feelings.

Eurgh. I need a beer.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45142145
 
Hard to comment unless you live/work/police/have been victim of crime in the area.

Yet again people commenting on an area of the US as if their own back yard.

At first look it does seem a bit dirty as playing on the current atmosphere in a certain area. For example tell a young undisciplined child not to do something and what will they likely do, the thing you told them not too. It's a mixture of guilt profiling, temptation, ignorance and human nature.

Some areas of Chicago have insane crime, didn't I read that 73 people were shot over the weekend. Yep.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news...cago-weekend-violence-20180806-story,amp.html
 
I used to live in a town called Bay City, MI when I was in university between '99 and '02 and the police did this there. If I remember correctly they had to stop and the one or two people that fell for the trap and were arrested had their conviction overturned. Now I don't know about race, as Bay City was full of mostly poor white people, but the reason this was stopped and the convictions / arrests were overturned was down to police entrapment.

While I agree that the perpetrators should not have tried stealing the cars that were left unlocked with the engines running, I do also agree that this is entrapment and shouldn't be allowed.
 
Diddums said:
inciting racism or some such nonsense.
Click to expand...
don't think racism was mentioned anywhere in the article, unless i missed. the only reference to colour was that it was happening in a predominantly black area. i don't see anyone crying racist over it in the article at all.
 
VincentHanna said:
I thought entrapment was illegal in the U.S?
Click to expand...

*sighs*

The standards for entrapment are that crime is induced or encouraged. Leaving a bait car that they have to break into is in no stretch entrapment. Nobody forces, encourages or induces the person to commit the crime.
 
This sounds like an extension of the 'Bait Car' TV programme I've watched where they stage an arrest of an undercover copper and leave the car unlocked with the keys still in the ignition.

I think for entrapment there needs to be an element of direct involvement/pursuasion, with these situations all they are doing is alerting the public to the presence of unsecured property. There's no police involvement in the committing of the crime itself.

If anything it's probably going to be a good way to deter people from committing such crimes if they have in the back of their mind that it might be a trap.
 
@Diddums sorry, RSS feed slow today :D

While I think leaving an open truck there is rather blatant and perhaps going to entice far more people than you'd usually expect to habitually commit crime no one is forcing them to climb on in and steal.

As for the race thing, I doubt they thought "let's target some black guys" more likely this was a high crime rate area (they mentioned it was in response to some existing thieving problem) and high crime rate areas in inner cities tend to have a larger portion of non white people, immigrants etc...
 
"[The police department] admits that it can't solve murders and violent crimes because communities of colour don't trust the Chicago Police. These stunts won't help."

Go watch Louis Theroux in Atlanta riding along with the cops.

No amount if stunts will help these life time criminals I'm afraid.
 
ScoTTyBEEE said:
I think it's wrong to go into poor areas and dangle riches under their noses; perhaps some of us should take a walk in their shoes.
Click to expand...

Maybe if they stopped committing crimes and going to prison they wouldn't be so poor?
Just because you're poor doesn't give you the right to take what ain't yours.
 
Nothing gives people the right to take that which is not theirs, but it does seem a little sinister to deliberately put people in this position.
 
Good police initiative, hopefully it will clear plenty of scum off the street. We desperately need chav & moped thief scum traps over here too. Lock them up, throw away the key and toss the jail off a mountain.
 
Did they not do this in the UK at one time? I seem to remember cars which trapped potential thieves by locking them in. Manchester? Birmingham?
 
They could lure them in with their favourite chav anthems playing in the vehicle on Radio One. I don't think they'd be smart enough to cotton on, even after the hundredth time.
 
ScoTTyBEEE said:
Nothing gives people the right to take that which is not theirs, but it does seem a little sinister to deliberately put people in this position.
Click to expand...

They put themselves in that position. They choose to steal. Nicking trainers ain't feeding your starving kids.
 
nkata said:
Did they not do this in the UK at one time? I seem to remember cars which trapped potential thieves by locking them in. Manchester? Birmingham?
Click to expand...

Guy Ritchie produced a TV show where they would leave expensive cars unlocked. Then lock the criminal in and do stupid stuff to them. A cameraman was stabbed in the leg.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom