Dallas-area reps complained all session of a rise in items stolen from cars, spawning a huge push this spring to make burglary of a vehicle a felony. Bill proponents claimed the reduction of the charge to a misdemeanor 12 years ago spawned recent burglary rashes.
The Dallas News, though, finally reports the real reason crime rates for vehicle-burglary rose: Dallas police don't want to investigate property crimes. Dallas' problem with vehicle burglaries won't be solved by increasing penalties if police aren't enforcing laws on the books.
Related: Rep. Peña writes about becoming the House sponsor of HB 1874 by Whitmire, the Senate's vehicle burglary solution, while Injustice Anywhere pens Dean Whitmire a love letter admiring him for his leadership on probation and fighting a vehicle-burglary sentence increase. You gotta give him props: This news out of Dallas really make it sound like Dean Whitmire made the right call.
Slightly less related: Marc Campos considers Whitmire the "leading voice" of Texas' Democratic Party. Via Kuff.
I am a senior citizen that lives in Arlington, TX. My car has been broken into 3 times. The first time so much damage was done that I couldn't use the key to start it so it had to be replaced. The next two times a window was broken and the radio/cd player stolen at a cost to me of about $400/500. The police take a report over the phone. They do not come out. It took months for me to repair and replace the damage because I have to save up the money a little at a time to do it. What is the answer here?
ReplyDeleteCurrent law allows the crook to be jailed for up to one year per offense, but only a tiny handful of car burglaries are ever solved. The answer is to spend more resources catching the crooks, not to imprison the small fraction of those caught in perpetuity. If police didn't even come out, obviously they're not doing much investigating. That's one reason I oppose increasing the penalty. They're hardly enforcing the laws on the books now.
ReplyDeleteMy Family's car was burglarized in Arlington, TX last night and when reported to police, I waited for over an hour and no officer ever arrived. I had method of entry, good fingerprints left and video footage from the hotel and the police stated that they do not usually investigate these low priority crimes. My 2007 Chevy Tahoe was one of three vehicles burglarized in the same night at the hotel next to Six Flags. They gained entry from slim jimming the back windows after popping off the trim pieces. If it was a felony, maybe police would feel it is worth investigating. I am going to sue the hotel if their Liability Carrier does not cover my losses which in turn only increases insurnces rates so once again, the criminals and lawyers win.
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