Monday, August 03, 2020

Crime in the City

It seems that the Minneapolis police department is telling residents to be ready to comply with violent criminals.
The Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) told residents they should “be prepared” to hand over their phones, wallets, and purses to robbers.
If tis sounds odd, or out of touch with common practice, recall that Minneapolis is going through a "defund the police" spasm, and the activities of the Minneapolis police department have been severely curtailed.  As a result, violent crime is on the rise.
 Police in the city’s Third Precinct alone have received more than 100 reports of robberies and 20 reports of carjackings in just the last month.
The idea of complying with criminals is repulsive to me.  While the Minneapolis PD may be doing what they have to do to try to keep the citizenry alive and unharmed, it is still repulsive to think that a citizen should be forced to cower in the face of violence.  Rahter, I'd prefer that the criminals cower in the face of outraged citizens.

“If violent crime is to be curbed, it is only the intended victim who can do it. The felon does not fear the police, and he fears neither judge nor jury. Therefore what he must be taught to fear is his victim.”

I was a police officer for 37 years, and I've learned that by-and-large, the police are seldom in a place to end a violent encounter.  We generally show up a few minutes later.

Still, it rankles me that the Minneapolis PD are telling citizens to comply with criminals.

2 comments:

Peripatetic Engineer said...

Where is Lucas Davenport when you need him?

Jonathan H said...

Given that Minnesota has a history of prosecuting people for defending themselves, I'm surprised he didn't give an explicit warning against defending yourself... to me it is implied in the expectation that people should comply with criminals.