Thieves in LA are looting freight trains filled with packages from UPS, FedEx and Amazon

[ripcord]

Source: CNN Business

Photos and videos showing piles of empty boxes littered alongside rail tracks in Los Angeles County, California have gone viral as shipping companies say they've seen a dramatic spike in railroad theft. Some of the boxes are packages from companies like UPS, Amazon and FedEx.
Union Pacific, one of the country's largest railroad companies, says it may avoid operating in Los Angeles County following the spike in thefts, which it blames on lax prosecution of crimes. The containers and trains are locked, but can be broken into.
Union Pacific said last month in a letter to the Los Angeles District Attorney that it saw a 160% year-over-year increase in theft in LA county. The company claims that a December 2020 special directive issued by District Attorney George Gascón that changed how low-level offenses are prosecuted has contributed to the uptick.

Union Pacific said in its letter that in the last three months of the year it made over 100 arrests of "active criminals vandalizing our trains" in partnership with the LA police department and Los Angeles Sherriff department. But Union Pacific, which has its own police department with jurisdiction over the 32,000 miles of tracks it owns, said that even as it has expanded its security resources and partnered more closely with local law enforcement, the problem isn't going away. After being arrested individuals are released from custody within 24 hours, it said.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/14/economy/la-freight-railroad-theft/index.html

---

This is what happens when people know there are no consequences to their actions.

[Rebl2]

1. Consequences

from USPS dumjoy sending packages by train instead of planes?

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. USPS wasn't mentioned- UPS, FedEx and Amazon. Nt

[Rebl2]

20. My brain

read it as usps for some reason 🙄

[Joinfortmill]

3. WTF? Charge these people.

[stopdiggin]

11. I believe they are being charged

but the crimes are categorized as lower level offense - and thus subject to quick release.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

14. And then they're released.

Cross-posting from Thieves Raiding Cargo Containers, Stealing Packages On Downtown Section Of Union Pacific Train...

I have videos there from CBS Los Angeles.

Union Pacific: Train Robberies Up 356% Due To LA County DA George Gascón's No-Cash Bail Policy

{snip video}

Medical equipment, designer handbags, luggage, throw pillows, airline parts, children’s artwork, even a new wine fridge – all those items and more have been found stolen off Union Pacific trains and discarded alongside the tracks in East LA.
17 HOURS AGO

{no text, just the video}

Full disclosure: I own shares of Union Pacific.

Google maps shows that the line serves a UPS distribution center just west of where the thefts are occurring.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

4. With that kind of security, would anyone ride a high-speed "bullet" train? nt

[maxsolomon]

6. What are you suggesting is the concern?

There aren't any bullet trains in the US.

[stopdiggin]

8. hard to see the connection (or relevance)

are you imagining package looting on high speed rail? Or, alternately, high speed passenger trains sitting in abandoned rail yards for days? (or perhaps you just don't like the idea of high speed commuter links - and thus any argument ...? )

[GoneOffShore]

51. I believe we've ridden that pony before.

[twodogsbarking]

5. Modern day Butch and Sundance before they started robbing banks.

Robbing the Union Pacific RR

[Itchinjim]

7. This has been going on as long as there has been trains and frieght yards.

Nothing new.

[ColinC]

19. Yep

But we should totally blame it on LA 's inability to indefinitely hold people in jail without being charged for not affording bail.

[Scrivener7]

22. To that extent? I seriously doubt it. It's a problem.

[pecosbob]

39. The same train yards that back in my day used to provide cut-rate firearms for the community

Reactionary news articles would have the rest of the nation think that Cali is broken beyond repair, when in fact it operates in the black.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. Union Pacific: Train Robberies Up 356% Due To LA County DA George Gascon's No-Cash Bail Policy

Cross-posting from Thieves Raiding Cargo Containers, Stealing Packages On Downtown Section Of Union Pacific Train...

I have videos there from CBS Los Angeles.

Union Pacific: Train Robberies Up 356% Due To LA County DA George Gascón's No-Cash Bail Policy

{snip video}

Medical equipment, designer handbags, luggage, throw pillows, airline parts, children’s artwork, even a new wine fridge – all those items and more have been found stolen off Union Pacific trains and discarded alongside the tracks in East LA.
17 HOURS AGO

{no text, just the video}

Full disclosure: I own shares of Union Pacific.

Google maps shows that the line serves a UPS distribution center just west of where the thefts are occurring.

[ColinC]

13. No cash bail doesn't prevent people from being charged

[mahatmakanejeeves]

16. After which they're right back on the streets. Or the tracks; wherever there's more to steal. NT

[ColinC]

17. That isn't because of cash bail....

If they were rich they would also be on the street again. But a judge has decided they are not a risk, which allows them to be released until they are charged with a crime. The accusation also lacks evidence that the people looting the trains are the same repeat offenders. If there is evidence for that, they will likely not be released as easily the second time.

[stopdiggin]

21. thing is, it seems like there ARE a good number

of repeat offenders on this merry-go-round.

On the other hand, I will agree with you that there is nothing here saying that these offenders are not being charged, and (eventually) facing punitive measure for their actions. And it's kind of disingenuous to make that claim. (if in fact somebody is)
----- -----

[ColinC]

28. Yeah. I just think blaming no cash bail for looting is incredibly misdirected

The idea that looting is the result of not keeping people in jail indefinitely because they cannot pay, is absurd. Or the idea that we should keep people in jail indefinitely in order to prevent looting doesn't seem like a proper use of our justice system and resources.

[stopdiggin]

43. 100%

the cash bail thing is a mostly shallow argument. I do however believe that real punitive (and hopefully deterrent) measures must be delivered when these things make their way to a conclusion in that same criminal justice system. The idea that mere 'property crime' is somehow not of serious consequence - is a woefully misguided one.

(And if people want better results from their justice system - they might want to think about actually investing in a seriously overworked and overwhelmed system. With few things being more central to a respected and functioning democracy. Right?)

[ColinC]

44. I agree. I also think there are plenty of preventative measures that could be introduced to prevent

these things from happening as much. A combination of deterrence and prevention through a stronger social service and education system might be a helpful recipe for the future.

[I-Scream]

49. It's not so much about bail... It's more about sentencing

It's not so much about bail... It's more about sentencing, parole, parole supervision and follow-up, and the way repeat offenders are dealt with.

Career and habitual criminals should be subject to a more stringent parole release process with a greater likelihood of serving the majority of their sentences. The citizenry at large (society) should be many times safer than we are today.

If drug criminals were pardoned, provided they were not also convicted of property or crimes of violence, prisons and sentences could be used in a way that actually benefitted society.

[ColinC]

50. Right. To blame the no cash bail system like the companies are doing is idiotic

[Polybius]

26. This is why we lose elections

Well, this and voter suppression.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

33. Right. You can count on seeing these videos in the TV commercials for every last

Republican candidate running for the House. Lather, rinse, repeat for the Senate. Lather, rinse, repeat for governorships, et al.

[Slammer]

42. +1 n/t

[ColinC]

10. Gascon's rules don't prevent people from being charged. Companies and police are trying

to shift responsibility in a very stupid way.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

12. You're right. The people committing the thefts are not at all responsible.

Once the people are charged, they're free to go.

Cross-posting from Thieves Raiding Cargo Containers, Stealing Packages On Downtown Section Of Union Pacific Train...

I have videos there from CBS Los Angeles.

Union Pacific: Train Robberies Up 356% Due To LA County DA George Gascón's No-Cash Bail Policy

{snip video}

Medical equipment, designer handbags, luggage, throw pillows, airline parts, children’s artwork, even a new wine fridge – all those items and more have been found stolen off Union Pacific trains and discarded alongside the tracks in East LA.
17 HOURS AGO

{no text, just the video}

Full disclosure: I own shares of Union Pacific.

Google maps shows that the line serves a UPS distribution center just west of where the thefts are occurring.

[ColinC]

15. Right. They are not responsible for charging and convicting themselves.

Police and prosecuters have often been refusing to in pathetic protest of George gascon's rules.

[ripcord]

45. Actually Gascon has been prosecuting less misdemeanor theft cases

Add to that the level for felony theft has been raised to $950 most of the people committing these thefts know the chances are low that they face anything other than probation.

[ColinC]

47. Those absolutely sound like consequences.

It also sounds like train yards need to improve their security if it is so easy for this to happen.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

18. Search Google News

https://www.google.com/search?q=union+pacific+los+angeles

[SWBTATTReg]

23. Eh, why isn't Fed Ex., others do more to protect our shipments? If they don't, then the

marketplace will decide for them what should happen, which is don't ship packages on these carriers.

This is not related directly to why I don't have any packages delivered to my home address, I just don't trust the US Post Office / others to actually deliver a package and then not let me know that the package(s) are there, I have seen them drop packages off and not signal anything what-so-ever that the package has been delivered.

If something isn't done, I suspect that more and more alternatives will be developed in lieu of business consolidations (thus having only one shipping center vs. formerly 5 shipping centers, etc.). Business consolidations/concentrations is hurting the entire industry, all in the name of profits. Not fulfilling customer expectations.

[2naSalit]

31. Because that would cost $$...

And they put that stuff on trains due to cost so contributing to security is a nonstarter. UPRR could do something more about security.

[C Moon]

24. This country has gone to hell since Trump. "If the top elected official can break the law...

and get off without being charged, why not me?"

[Polybius]

27. This has nothing to do with Trump

It has all to do with LA's radical criminal release laws. "Can't afford bail? No problem, you're free to go!"

[paleotn]

25. Someone needs to hire Joe Lefors and his crew.

They made Butch and Sundance relocate to South America.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

32. The jerks breaking into the containers are thieves. They're stealing medical supplies and

replacement aircraft parts.

Granny needs a life flight to a medical facility? Tough luck, granny, the helicopter's down, because the replacement parts were stolen. You die.

You're going into anaphylactic shock, and you need an EpiPen? Sorry, it's sitting on the ground beside the tracks. You die too.

These thieves are not some romantic latter-day Robert Redford and Paul Newman. They're not stealing loaves of bread to feed their families.

[paleotn]

35. Didn't say they were. Bit of an overreaction, ya think?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

36. Yeah, you're right.

Okay, okay. I'll calm down.

Seriously, this is theft, pure and simple. It's not a bold revolutionary act on the part of the people. Catch and release isn't working.

Sorry. I'll try to do better next time. I probably won't do better, but I can try to do better.

The drift of this thread is ... well, it's DU, and I shouldn't be surprised anymore by what I read here.

Happy New Year.

[paleotn]

37. No worries. My sense of humor tends to rub folks the wrong way sometimes.

I do agree with you. It's horrible and something really needs to be done.

Cheers!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

38. I need to choose an excuse for my uncalled for reaction. Hmmmm. Oh, I know.

"It's the weather."

Yeah, that's it.

It's been sub-freezing all day, and we have a big snowstorm rolling in tomorrow afternoon. I've been inside all day, and I don't seem to be getting much of anything done.

Cheers to you to.

[yaesu]

29. All that corporate stimulus welfare must not trickled down any plus 4 yrs of being run by the mob

and you have a lot of angry people all over the country that don't give a shit about so called laws.

[LENNY0229]

30. Fed, state, and local police joint task forces needed to stop this crap.

[Delmette2.0]

40. Yes.

How about charging the thieves with interference of interstate transportation?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

34. Here's what will happen if nothing is done:

Union Pacific will embargo traffic on the line. No traffic goes into or out of the UPS distribution center, on the grounds that the thefts are going unchecked. Sorry, but UPS will have to find a new carrier.

Everything can go on a truck, but that will result in an extra fuel cost and an increase in shipping time. The workers at the distribution center can go find new jobs.

I'm sure someone at DU will think this is swell.

[Slammer]

41. good point

"This is what happens when people know there are no consequences to their actions."

You mean like with election fraud, threatening election officials, threatening delegates to political conventions, emailing death threats, conspiracies to overthrow the government, etc.?

If you don't prosecute crimes and hold criminals responsible, you'll get more people committing those crimes.

[Nac Mac Feegle]

46. It's a LOT cheaper to blame "Courts not locking thieves up" than to actually provide security

for the rail yard.

Just throw some wild accusations vaguely around and you don't actually have to do anything that could affect the sacrosanct Bottom Line.

Can't cut into the profits.

[LT Barclay]

48. Thank you.

Let's also not forget that total property crime the US is about $256 million while REPORTED theft of wages is $4-6 billion annually.
And the homeless situation in CA is insane, but I really blame the banks that crashed things in 2008 and then ramped up rents. The game was so profitable that foreign investors have joined in the fun.
A problem without an easy answer, but you provided a good first step.

[I-Scream]

52. I don't know where you came up with the $256 million figure. It's in the billions,

Per the FBI it's over $16 B. $256 M would only be about $0.75 (cents) per capita which is an incredibly unrealistically low dollar value for property crime.

Overview
In 2018, there were an estimated 7,196,045 property crime offenses in the nation. The 2-year trend showed that property crime offenses declined 6.3 percent in 2018 when compared with the 2017 estimate. The 10-year trend showed that property crime offenses decreased 22.9 percent in 2018 when compared with the 2009 estimate. (See Tables 1 and 1A.)
In 2018, the rate of property crime was estimated at 2,199.5 per 100,000 inhabitants, a 6.9 percent decrease when compared with the 2017 estimated rate. The 2018 property crime rate was 14.6 percent less than the 2014 estimate and 27.7 percent less than the 2009 estimate. (See Tables 1 and 1A.)
Larceny-theft accounted for 72.5 percent of all property crimes in 2018. Burglary accounted for 17.1 percent, and motor vehicle theft for 10.4 percent. (Based on Table 1.)
Property crimes in 2018 resulted in losses estimated at $16.4 billion. (Based on Tables 1 and 23.)

https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2018/crime-in-the-u.s.-2018/topic-pages/property-crime

[LT Barclay]

55. It was in an article I read about how much worse corporate crime is

I guess the source was wrong.
I’m still not sympathetic to the woes of corporations when they are working so hard to take over the government.

[ripcord]

54. They have their own police force and make arrests

Why would you assume they had no security?

[tenderfoot]

56. I'm assuming they couldn't be bothered judging from the amount of debris left behind

eom

[mahatmakanejeeves]

57. They cleaned up the area four weeks ago. All the debris you see has been dumped there

in the last month.

[ripcord]

60. How strange is it that someone would try to blame the thieves behavior on the victim (nt)

[tenderfoot]

61. The victim with their own security force?

They suck at their job, that's for sure.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

62. At DU? Not really. NT

[tenderfoot]

63. You don't seem upset that there was no resistance to getting looted.

Seems like you're enjoying all this because it makes Biden look bad and Democrats weak on crime.

[ripcord]

65. They have a police force that arrests people who break into trains

What more do you want them to do shoot people over objects? Why is it so hard for you to accept the fact that it is the thieves that are in the wrong not the victim?

[tenderfoot]

66. Why aren't you upset that security let them have their way?

eom

[Yandex]

53. Remember when there were just hobos who rode the rails? n/t

[LiberatedUSA]

58. Your post made me think of the movie, Judgment Night from the 90s.

A-list actors. Great movie.

[Dr. Strange]

68. We didn't see many hobos riding the rails.

Not back when Kitchener Leslie was policing the rails, that's for sure.

[RSherman]

64. Train Thefts

When Jan. 6 first happened, someone posted on facebook, that it was "just a few hundred hapless, unarmed people" who had no idea what they were doing. We have since found that there were thousands, some were armed, and some groups were organized.

In California, the "smash and grabs" are believed to be conducted by organized crime groups.
https://www.npr.org/2021/12/20/1066017143/california-attorney-general-announces-steps-against-smash-and-grab-robberies

Looking at the scale of these train robberies (Look at the number of packages! Holy cow!), it does not seem plausible that some thieves who have been released on no cash bail can be responsible for all of this. Seems more organized. Much like the smash and grabs. Surprised no one has mentioned this possibility?

[gopiscrap]

67. welcome to DU

[rockfordfile]

69. I agree it's organized

In one of the vids it seems a number of the people stealing had purple hair or like a purple streak in their hair. It's clear when you see a number of people even doing that it's organized.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

70. LA councilman blasts train theft 'chaos,' calls them 'a threat to our economy'

Yahoo Finance

LA councilman blasts train theft 'chaos,' calls them 'a threat to our economy'

Dani Romero
Tue, February 1, 2022, 8:01 AM

Brazen freight train thefts have spiked in Los Angeles, with images of looted packages and abandoned containers capturing headlines and captivating social media — and putting pressure on California Governor Gavin Newsom to address conditions even he likened to "a third world country."

The thefts have sparked a war of words between law enforcement and Union Pacific (UNP), which owns the railroad and has called for stronger deterrence. But the growing problem has become a rallying cry for at least one local official, who is calling for stiffer penalties against criminals exploiting a weak link in the nation's supply chain crisis.

Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino told Yahoo Finance in a recent interview that he's "never seen anything like this. We're seeing more chaos with fewer consequences for those who are committing these acts."

The issue has become more of a problem during the past three months – raising new criticism around L.A. County's no cash bail policy, which has worsened the problem by making it easier for thieves to get released — if they get charged at all. ... In a letter to the LA County District Attorney last month, Adrian Guerrero, UP's director of public affairs, noted that rail thefts have skyrocketed by 160% in the county over the past year. On average, 90 containers were compromised every day, the company said.

{snip}

[RSherman]

71. Blaming no cash bail is pure politics

As I stated in my earlier post, politicians blaming everything on no cash bail is pure politics. I would like to see the stats on repeat offenders. No one seems to have the stats to back up these claims. Again, in my opinion, these train robberies seem to be organized, much like the smash and grabs in California. I do not believe individual robbers are leaving court and running to the railroad tracks in huge numbers. I mean, just look at the number of packages.