Theft is costing us an arm and a leg..

19 year old biker, Jack Baker of Bristol has had his false arm stolen from his bike. Mr Baker who lost his arm in an accident, had left the prosthetic limb attached to his bike while visiting his girlfriend’s house when thieves struck.

Another man from Leeds had his car and two prosthetic and a wheelchair stolen. The £2500 wheelchair was the victim’s lifeline after he lost both legs to meningitis as a child. Luckily for the victim, a local hospital worked around the clock to replace his legs so that he could walk his sister down the aisle on her wedding day, but the cost of replacing the chair is beyond the unfortunate victim.

Are there no depths that people will stoop to? I have never understood theft. One of the primary rules when I was growing up was you do not take other people’s belongings. It seems that such fundamental morals no longer exist in certain groups of people. Shoplifting and theft from companies is wrong. It’s not just illegal it is wrong but taking from another individual somehow seems much more personal and much more deplorable. Victims such as the two I have mentioned above cannot afford to write off the loss like businesses can and the items stolen were probably of little or no use to the people who took them. It is theft for the sake of spite. One can almost forgive theft from people so desperately poor that they cannot afford to eat. One can almost empathise with addicts who need to feed a habit and steal to PlayStation’s to buy drugs.

A 79 year old man, whose house in Bristol was burgled while he slept, had his false eye stolen. He had had the false eye since he was just six and said he considered the eye “part of his body”.

What use was it to anyone? It was cruel and despicable behaviour from people who are devoid of morals and deserve to lose their liberty. I don’t care if prisons are full and I don’t care if it costs tax payers to keep criminals in them.

Taking a things for the sake of the taking them is downright deprived. The people who commit these crimes should feel the full force of justice, but often sadly too many go unpunished all together.

Greater Manchester chief constable said today that only 40% of crimes are actually investigated. With government cuts meaning less police there is a tangible lack of Bobbies on the beat. With no visible deterrent and officers having to make difficult the difficult decision to not investigate 60% of crimes reported it is unlikely to improve. Many believe sentencing is too soft and that prisons are holiday camps providing 3 meals a day, flat screen TVs and Xboxes for its guests.

I don’t know if the public perception of prison is accurate, I suspect not but these attitudes towards it do nothing to prevent crimes.

Many people have known such levels of destitution, often through no fault of their own, that they simply cannot afford to eat or put on the heating and yet have never considered resorting to burglary and theft.

There will of course be do gooder’s who say it is due to lack of positive role models or that the criminals have nothing else to do. There will be others who claim it is because too many single Mother’s barely out of childhood themselves are bringing up feral kids with no idea how to do it and no money. They may claim its broken families with no male in the home. Some will probably say it the governments fault for giving them benefits.

The people responsible for these crimes are not victims of poverty; they are not victims of government policy. The thoughtless, selfish vile scum guilty of these shameful crimes are the product of a minority bereft of pride, dignity, humanity and consideration for others. They are thankfully a small minority but are growing and if left unpunished will flourish and spread like a disease.

Burglary and theft is often referred to as petty crime. It is not petty and often leaves the victims traumatised violated and afraid.  

Parents have a responsibility to teach their children what is morally acceptable. They have a responsibility to know where their kids are at 3am and they have a responsibility to be role models. The police have a responsibility to at least try to investigate as many crimes as is possible. If the investigation is unfruitful, at least the public perception might improve.

It’s not good enough to just send up a helicopter to patrol the skies when it is curiously close to budget times. Police need the power and resources to be able to catch and punish the people who are committing crimes against vulnerable innocent people. The belongings of convicted thieves should be confiscated and auctioned to compensate victims and perhaps those responsible might begin to understand how it feels to be relieved of your personal possessions.

Governments do have a responsibility to give the police the tools they need but we all have a responsibility to send a message to the people who violate others property that it should not and will not be tolerated.