Why Real Crime Rarely Gets Solved

Have you noticed that when it comes to robbery, burglary or theft, the most police do is show up and write a report for insurance companies. It's just too hard to catch the bad guys. So when you call the cops, more than likely, a well-dressed young man wearing a paramilitary uniform will show up at your house. He will ask a few questions, say a few words about how much of a jungle it is out on the streets and give you a number where you can retrieve a report to submit to your insurance company, if you want to make a claim and have your premiums "surcharged"...a new term describing how State Farm makes its money back on any given claim, no matter how many times you have paid on time or never made a claim at all. Then he will hop into the cruiser and go to the next administrative task. Meanwhile your goods are being fenced at a complicit pawnshop in the ghetto or sold directly to other residents in the same 'hood. Some of them become wholesalers and your property may change hands several times. Either way, you ain't seeing your lawnmower again. The reason your property will not be returned is that catching real criminals is too hard and once caught many of them are released an interminable amount of times before serving any time. While they serve time, they hone their skills so they can more proficiently steal in the future. It is a way of life for criminal. Jail or prison is only one stop along the way. The criminal justice system in most of the western world actively sides with the criminal by making it almost impossible to stop them. You catch a guy breaking into your car, you shoot him or render him insensate with your fists and YOU are going to jail. The choirboy or his equally lovely family will sue your insurance company and make out like the banditry that they represent. You will go to jail for the rest of your life. It's easier that way. Laws do nothing to stop criminal behavior. More often than not, they serve to keep law-abiding citizenry in line. You know, like the old song says, "Step out of line the man come and take you away." Cops are heavily bureaucratized. Just like the rest of our civilization. They know who the criminals are. We all do. But we can't go after them. It's easier to prey on law abiding citizenry, issuing tickets for minor offences, rather than go after the bad guys. Below follows a brief history of law enforcement in the United States. Notice that it has always fallen upon the citizenry to combat crime. Big Police, just like Big Pharma, is a relatively recent phenomenon. 1600s April 1635 The City of Boston establishes the first system of law enforcement in the 13 colonies. Called the "night watch," officers served part-time, without pay. 1700s 1712 The City of Boston hires the first full-time, paid law enforcement officers in the 13 colonies. September 24, 1789 The United States Congress creates the first Federal law enforcement officer, the United States Marshal. Thirteen U.S. Marshals were appointed by President George Washington. October 22, 1791 Sheriff Cornelius Hogeboom of Hudson, New York, was shot as he attempted to serve a writ of ejectment becoming the first known law enforcement officer to be killed in the line of duty. 1800s 1835 Texas creates what was later to become the Texas Rangers, the oldest statewide law enforcement agency in America. 1858 Police departments in Boston and Chicago issue uniforms to their officers. 1863 The City of Boston becomes the first police department to issue pistols to their officers. April 14, 1865 On the day he was shot by the assassin John Wilkes Booth, President Abraham Lincoln approves the formation of what is now the United States Secret Service. April 12, 1870 Jacksonville, Florida, Officer William Johnson becomes the first African American police officer to be killed in the line of duty. November 2, 1870 Thomas J. Smith, of Abilene, Kansas, becomes the first of more than 480 Police Chiefs to die in the line of duty. April 1, 1878- April 28, 1881 Notorious outlaw Billy the Kid kills six law enforcement officers in New Mexico: Deputy James W. Bell, Sheriff William Brady, Deputy James Carlysle, Deputy George Hindman, Deputy Marshal Robert Olinger and Deputy Robert Beckwith. October 26, 1881 Legendary Lawman Wyatt Earp, along with his brothers Virgil and Morgan and John Henry "Doc" Holliday, win the Wild West era's most famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral. May 6, 1886 Eight Chicago, Illinois Police Officers were mortally wounded during a labor dispute that became known as the Haymarket Riot.: Mathias Degan, John Barrett, Timothy O'Sullivan, Timothy Flavin, Thomas Redden, Nels Hansen, George Miller, and Michael Sheehan. December 15, 1890 Six officers with the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs are killed attempting to arrest the Sioux Indian leader, Sitting Bull: Sergeant James Little Eagle, Sergeant Charles Shavehead, Private Paul Akicitah, Officer John Armstrong, Officer David Hawkman and Lieutenant Henry Bullhead. December 16, 1891 City Health Dept. Inspector Marie Owens is appointed to the Chicago Police Department as a police officer assigned to the Detective Bureau, becoming the nation’s earliest-known female sworn law enforcement officer. 1893 The first national police group is formed, the National Chiefs of Police Union, which would later become the International Association of Chiefs of Police. For the first time, police leaders met regularly to share ideas. 1895 Future President Theodore Roosevelt begins his three-year term of Police Commissioner in New York City. 1900s 1902 Fingerprinting is first used in the United States by law enforcement. 1914 The Berkeley (CA) Police Department becomes the country's first agency to have all patrol officers using automobiles. 1916 Anna Hart, a jail matron for the Hamilton County (OH) Sheriff's Office, becomes the first female law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty. 1929 Federal Agent Eliot Ness begins his legendary law enforcement career and is picked to lead a group of agents nicknamed "The Untouchables": Marty Lahart, Sam Seager, Barney Cloonan, Lyle Chapman, Tom Friel, Joe Leeson, Paul Robsky, Mike King and Bill Gardner. October 3, 1929 Eight Correctional Officers are killed at the Colorado State Penitentiary — the most ever to die in one incident at a correctional institution: Raymond Brown, John Eeles, E G Erwin, J W McClelland, C Walter Rinker, Charles Shepherd, Robert Wiggins and Myron Goodwin. 1930 The single deadliest year in law enforcement history, with 282 officers killed. January 2, 1932 Six lawmen were killed as they attempted to apprehend two suspects wanted in the murder of Greene County Marshal Mark Noe: Greene County Sheriff Marcell Hendrix, Deputy Ollie Crosswhite, Deputy Wiley Mashburn, Springfield Police Chief Detective Tony Oliver, Detective Sidney Meadows and Officer Charley Houser. This incident became known as the Young Brothers Massacre. 1932-1934 John Dillinger and his gang murdered ten law enforcement officers — more than any other outlaw. They were responsible for the deaths of Officer Howard Wagner, Trooper Eugene Teague, Sheriff Jesse Sarber, Sergeant William Shanley, Patrolman William O'Malley, Patrolman Martin O'Brien, Officer Francis Mulvihill, Chief Franklin Culp, Detective Henry Perrow and Undersheriff Charles Cavanagh. 1949 The last year in United States history in which fewer than 100 police officers were killed in the line of duty. Ninety-eight officers made the ultimate sacrifice in 1949. November 22, 1963 Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit is shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald after Oswald assassinates President John F. Kennedy. September 1968 Betty Blankenship and Elizabeth Robinson of the Indianapolis (IN) Police Department become the first female police officers in the United States to work as patrol officers on the street. The pair are transferred from administrative assignments after meeting with Chief of Police Winston Churchill and asking to be put on street patrols. April 6, 1970 Four California Highway Patrolmen, James Pence, Roger Gore, Walt Frago and George Alleyn died in a 4 minute gun battle with two heavily-armed suspects. The Newhall Incident, as it became known, reverberated throughout the law enforcement community and led to major reforms in training procedures, firearms use, and arrest techniques. September 1971 Seven Correctional Officers were killed during the riots at the Attica State Prison in upstate New York: William Quinn, Edward Cunningham, John D'Archangelo Jr, Richard Lewis, Carl Valone, Ronald Werner and Harrison Whalen. 1974 Police start wearing soft body armor to protect themselves against handgun assaults. September 20, 1974 Officer Gail Cobb of the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C., is shot and killed while attempting to apprehend a robbery suspect. Officer Cobb is the first of 41 African-American female officers to be killed in the line of duty. February 28, 1993 Four Special Agents of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) were killed attempting to execute a search warrant at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas: Todd McKeehan, Robert J Williams, Conway LeBleu, and Steven Willis. September 13, 1994 Public Law 103-322 authorizing American Flag to be flown at half-staff on May 15, Peace Officers Memorial Day, was enacted into law. April 19, 1995 Timothy McVeigh explodes a truck bomb that destroys the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The blast kills 168 people, including eight Federal law enforcement officers: Agents Cynthia Brown, Paul Broxterman, Paul Ice, Donald Leonard, Mickey Maroney, Kenneth McCullough, Claude Medearis and Alan Whicher. 2000s September 11, 2001 The deadliest day in law enforcement history occurred when 72 officers were killed while responding to the terrorist attacks on America. 2002 The Department of Homeland Security is formed to lead the unified national effort to secure America. And now we know where we have come from and where we are headed. So next time you get robbed, go ahead and call the police. It can't so much harm, but don't expect that call to do much good either.