2007.06.12 by ElfNinosMom
Believe it or not, this is real. I’ve been to Lakeland, and they have a helluva lot bigger problems than teenage boys stealing condoms. I bet the boys are really wanted for something else. Either that, or everyone in Lakeland is an idiot. I could go either way.
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aynrkey
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Do you think they would get off the trail of the prophilactic bandits if we all send the Sheriff a jimmy hat or two in the mail?
wow. i live in lakeland. i’m glad they haven’t caught me doing this! now if i could just find something to do with all those stolen condoms…
seriously, though i absolutely decry all violations of property, these rat lines down here are ridiculous. they have a phone number you can call to rat someone out no matter who you are. it’s sick!
Maybe they’re going to staple instructions to them and mail them to Africa.
Probably the idea is simply to embarrass the children who thought this was a fun idea.
However, if the cops are going to do anything ‘for’ us, investigating the theft of private property is what I would choose for them to do.
I’ll bet they can find a use for those condoms if they are shipped off to Gitmo!
Well, sure. Embarrassing children and investigating the theft of a box of condoms by a couple of horny teenage boys is a far better use of police resources than investigating …. oh, I don’t know …. murder, child abuse, armed robbery, rape, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, arson, burglary ….. need I go on? LOL
I understand your point, ENM. Are you suggesting, though, that theft be ignored until violent crimes are ‘taken care of’?
BTW, there seems to be something wonky about the validator. I composed a fairly lengthy reply and forgot to copy the text before hitting ‘submit’, much to my woe (and probably everyone else’ relief:) as the validator thought my ‘code’ was wrong (It wasn’t). This has happened several times before.
A sense of proportion would be good. If they jacked a truckload of condoms, that would warrant a wanted poster. But steal a box?
Harrumph…harrumph… pauliecanollie! Don’t you know, sir, that if we don’t nip this kind of behavior in the bud now we’ll start finding teenagers having the sex and doing the drugs!
Damn, I can never get people to spell that right. paulie cannoli. I’ll need to think of an easier pseudonym next time.
I think we may have to live with them having sex and doing drugs, as horrible as it may seem, as long as we can keep them from listening to that godawful racket….what do they call that, Mildred? Oh, yes, “rock and roll”?
Something that was overlooked in the haste to mock the ‘cops’ (and important task, I agree) is that CrimeStoppers is actually not part of the police. I am almost certain that is the case, though I’ve little doubt they get -some- gov’t money and support.
No, of course not. However, the police are using our tax dollars to operate, so they need to prioritize their resources a lot better. Polk County in particular has a number of unsolved major crimes (murders, kidnappings) so they really do need to expend less time and effort on petty crimes, and more time and effort on serious crimes.
Personally, I consider theft of a $10 pack of condoms from a retailer to be the lowest-priority crime. That doesn’t mean it’s not a crime, nor does it mean that I don’t take it seriously or that I don’t believe the perpetrators should be apprehended and punished. Instead, I consider theft from individuals (burglary, robbery, fraud) to be a much higher priority than theft from a corporation. The most damaging effect of theft on the victim comes not monetarily, but psychologically. Conversely, Sears is a corporation and as such doesn’t have emotions, so its only loss is monetary.
That being said, a much more sensible way of ascertaining the identities of those boys would be to send the surveillance photo to area high schools. If no one recognizes them, chances are they’re from elsewhere, since teachers would remember them even if they have already graduated (or dropped out, as the case may be).
The problem with crime-solving in Florida is that it’s a very transient area, and resultantly crimes being committed by nonresidents and people outside the local area are not at all unusual. However, no prosecutor is ever going to extradite someone for petit theft, especially involving a single item worth only about $10, because extradition is very expensive. So if they can’t find them locally by polling high schools in, say, a 50-square-mile area, they should just put the case on the back burner and resume trying to solve more serious crimes.
If I may flash back to your previous comment for a moment …. While I think you have an extremely valid point about the value of embarrassing children who exhibit bad behavior (that actually works much better than conventional punishment for many teenagers), I honestly don’t think it’s the job of the police to embarrass anyone. Their one and only job is to investigate and solve crime. However, even if that were their job, boys that age are very unlikely to be embarrassed over stealing condoms. Unfortunately, it’s such common behavior that most retailers keep those items behind the counter.
I have also had problems with the validator, now that Susan mentions it. I’ve gotten to the point that I copy and paste all my responses onto a blank email before hitting “submit”, because a lot of times my response is lost. I’m also having problems wherein I can’t read what’s on the validator, so I have to repeatedly reload the page until I find a code I can read. Right now, for example, it looks like it says M47, although that can’t possibly be correct since the code is strictly numeric.
Same here on that last point.
Try typing the numeric code with the numbers at the top of your keyboard instead of the number pad at the right. Works for me whereas the number pad neve works even though I have NumLock on and it works with other applications. I never have to paste from a word doc or e-mail when I use the numbers across the top. Hope this helps.
No, of course not. However, the police are using our tax dollars to operate, so they need to prioritize
theirour resources a lot better.Fixed that ENM. ;o)
And speaking of resources, a $10 box of condoms beats 18 years of support and medical care or, in the case of STDs, years of Interferon treatment for sexually transmitted hepatitis. (Not that I condone theft at all.)
And I also have issues with the validator.