I, personally, had my fill of "non-violent" criminals quite a while back. Career shoplifters, for example, steal all the time, they just don't get caught. One common modus operandi is "refunding," picking up items at one place in a store, and "returning" them at another place in the same store. Since this only works in stores that allow you to return items without a receipt, "refunders" drive out into the suburbs and smaller towns, where they can still do it. They also "boost," that is, hide things under their clothing, typically steaks, cigarettes, stuff like that. These people are junkies, and unemployed, and are just general pains in the neck. I represented a woman who stole Gynelotremin (sp?) a vaginal yeast treatment, even though she had a job, and money, because it was too much trouble to go to the free clinic. She expected me to understand.
For first offenses, they are sent to some kind of diversionary program, and if they behave, their conviction is expunged. The second offense, they get a fine, sometimes have to serve a night, in a tough jurisdiction, but some jurisdictions only give a night in jail for a third offense. Then ten days. And so on. Someone with a string of theft charges is going to do time, and I would consider that person to be a hardened career criminal. He or she is a predator, pure and simple.
On the other hand, most people who commit violent crimes abuse alcohol or drugs, and have bad tempers, they have self-esteem problems and lash out. They may spend a lot of time in jail, but it isn't for crimes that they planned to commit, usually.
People who make a career out of bank-robbing, say, are few and far between. People who make a career out of selling drugs tend not to get caught, and the ones who do tend to be hapless, pathetic losers. Most murders and rapes are acts of impulse.
Burglars, fences, car thieves, and the like are also generally hardened career criminals, and are predators.
In my experience, people who commit property crimes for a living are bad people, and it's the violent people who should be kept away from the people who commit property crimes. They might become armed robbers. |
