this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2024
750 points (99.1% liked)
Technology
59377 readers
3673 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related content.
- Be excellent to each another!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Approved Bots
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I call it virtue signaling. It's the same idea, just a clearer term for it.
Do those mythical organized thieves really exist? I think 80+% of crimes are crimes of opportunity done by vulnerable people like crackheads, mentally ill, or other low income people.
Well you can address drug addiction and vulnerability to an extent but this is about autotheft? What do drug addicts or vulnerable low income people need 6497 stolen cars for? Those will probably be caught relatively easily anyway if they just drive in the area.
The thing is that they ship these cars overseas as quick as possible and for big money and nearly impossible to recover. You can't do that as some lone Joe looking for your next blow, it's a profitable criminal enterprise with multiple people taking part, to steal the cars, schmooze through the paperwork, get the cars in containers to ship, then receive payment at the other end.
Crimes of opportunity are not need based, they are want based. People take something because they want it and are unconcerned with the potential consequences of taking it. Even the cop quoted in your linked article admitted that 'Cars stolen for the purpose of committing another crime are not what's behind the majority of thefts. '
Some of the initial carjackings may be opportunistic, but the people shipping the stolen cars out of the country are definitely organized.
Nah, flip that around. What's a random crackhead going to do with a stolen car? Vs an already-organized and knowledgeable business like a towing company who wants to add a lucrative side gig. That's who's doing catalytic converter theft, too.
I would say my OC at least applies to the people who get caught. Maybe not always to those who actually do the crime.