General Discussion

Sympthsical

(10,978 posts)

13. The point of the smash and grab is to not stick around

Reply to Baitball Blogger (Original post)

Tue Nov 30, 2021, 10:14 AM

Nov 2021

Police aren't just loitering around stores waiting for crime to happen.

There was an incident last year in my local shopping center. I had gotten some Subway and decided to eat outside while reading a book as it was a nice day and I had time to mosey. Suddenly a man with two bags goes flying by the seating area where I was eating. Fifteen seconds later, two employees from the Good Will store go past. After a few minutes, they come walking back past me, so I ask. Apparently the guy had gone in to grab a bunch of electronics and threatened the employees with a knife.

Cops showed up maybe 10-15 minutes after the shoplifter ran past me. I have no idea if they ever caught him.

People standing around and people actively fleeing aren't really comparable things.

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About those smash and grabs... [View all] Baitball Blogger Nov 2021 OP

Why would police do their job if shop lifting doc03 Nov 2021 #1

Good point. jimfields33 Nov 2021 #2

It might be a good point, IF Mariana Nov 2021 #61

That was more than shoplifting. That was vandalism. Baitball Blogger Nov 2021 #5

Vandalism, assault and battery, armed robbery, etc., etc. Floyd R. Turbo Nov 2021 #9

I know. Why is everyone else seeing this as a simple shoplifting? Baitball Blogger Nov 2021 #11

Myopia. Floyd R. Turbo Nov 2021 #14

It fits with the right-wing narrative. Mariana Nov 2021 #60

What happen to them if they get caught? I'm thinking doc03 Nov 2021 #24

No it is not. People get arrested for it every day. Mr.Bill Nov 2021 #16

This isn't shoplifting. Mariana Nov 2021 #59

Do you want smash-and-grabbers strangled at the scene too? WhiskeyGrinder Nov 2021 #3

What? Baitball Blogger Nov 2021 #6

Any time you want cops on the scene, that's what you risk. WhiskeyGrinder Nov 2021 #8

This was an active and excessive destruction of property. Baitball Blogger Nov 2021 #10

Yes, protecting property is one of their main purposes. WhiskeyGrinder Nov 2021 #12

And protecting property is...bad? Dial H For Hero Nov 2021 #42

When you enforce it by killing people, yeah, the model kind of sucks. WhiskeyGrinder Nov 2021 #43

So lock em up Calculating Nov 2021 #50

That doesn't sound like a very accurate model. Let's talk numbers. Dial H For Hero Nov 2021 #57

Seriously? Calculating Nov 2021 #49

. WhiskeyGrinder Nov 2021 #56

I don't think the police are engaging in events like this until they have adequate force dutch777 Nov 2021 #4

This was destruction of property. This was not a regular shoplifting. Baitball Blogger Nov 2021 #7

The point is still valid, a couple officers isn't going to engage a large violent group Amishman Nov 2021 #48

The point of the smash and grab is to not stick around Sympthsical Nov 2021 #13

The next time it happens, one of those fine people who carry should shot the tires of Baitball Blogger Nov 2021 #15

What? Voltaire2 Nov 2021 #18

There is a big difference between shooting people and shooting the tires of a Baitball Blogger Nov 2021 #21

People in real life do not have that kind of aim Sympthsical Nov 2021 #33

So, you visualize a car that is speeding away, when Baitball Blogger Nov 2021 #34

Bullets bounce in any scenario Sympthsical Nov 2021 #35

Frankly, I would rather the gun carry people to take aim at inanimate objects, than people. Baitball Blogger Nov 2021 #38

The lesser evil in this case would be not aiming at all Sympthsical Nov 2021 #39

You don't need guns to disable a car. rgbecker Dec 2021 #66

I doubt Good Will employees in California are packing Sympthsical Nov 2021 #19

In your case, I don't see any other option either. Baitball Blogger Nov 2021 #23

Given the level of organization, I'd imagine look outs are involved Sympthsical Nov 2021 #29

I understand your point about locals learning the police patterns. Baitball Blogger Nov 2021 #31

Timing. Omnipresent Nov 2021 #17

The premise is a black man can't sell cigarettes without being executed. Hortensis Nov 2021 #37

The angle of your argument doesn't apply to my response. Omnipresent Dec 2021 #64

These are planned crimes. If they see or think cops are there they wont do it . JI7 Nov 2021 #20

So many stores - So few cops. MineralMan Nov 2021 #22

I can see that. Baitball Blogger Nov 2021 #25

I don't know, but response time is never MineralMan Nov 2021 #26

I think I read somewhere that they nabbed seven or eight people, Baitball Blogger Nov 2021 #27

The strategy they are using in some areas of San Francisco Mr.Bill Nov 2021 #46

That might work, but will also create difficulties for shoppers. MineralMan Nov 2021 #47

Well, flash mobs spraying pepper spray Mr.Bill Nov 2021 #51

Yes, but the odds of that happening are very, very low. MineralMan Nov 2021 #53

Well, a few people have been assaulted Mr.Bill Nov 2021 #54

Yes. Employees are the most likely to encounter this, for sure. MineralMan Nov 2021 #55

Are you seriously asking how this is possible? PTWB Nov 2021 #28

Here's the irony of your statement. Baitball Blogger Nov 2021 #30

When seconds matter, the police are minutes away (as some are fond of saying). PTWB Nov 2021 #32

Not that I like the slogan, "Defund the Police," Baitball Blogger Nov 2021 #36

So now you think that they didn't respond at all? PTWB Nov 2021 #40

They did. They just arrived late. I presume. Baitball Blogger Nov 2021 #41

The police rarely stop an actual crime in progress. Voltaire2 Dec 2021 #67

The answer depends on who is reading it, and what that person identifies more with. taxi Nov 2021 #44

Smash and grab is OC. Patton French Nov 2021 #45

I have a secret for you greenjar_01 Nov 2021 #52

Once again. We are in a manufactured panic Voltaire2 Nov 2021 #58

No, no!! This kind of thing has NEVER EVER happened before!! Mariana Nov 2021 #62

In high prices stores where the security is shit AwakeAtLast Nov 2021 #63

Good question ck4829 Dec 2021 #65