Monday, Dec 08, 2014 at 20:10
Allan, the more scumbags we lock up, the cheaper per head it gets!!
Bottom line is: If a crim doesn't want to change his/hers mindset about taking stuff that isn't his/hers - what can be done?
Within the jails there are plenty of opportunities for crims to better themselves and to change their mindset about a life of crime.
But many don't want to take up those opportunities on offer, and many don't want to change their mindset.
They basically get a huge kick out of stealing, and want to continue that lifestyle choice.
I know a bloke who flew crims around America, as they were transferred long distances for various reasons. He told me, crims essentially fall into two groups;
1. Those who have done something wrong and regret every moment of that wrongdoing, and who rarely offend again, once they've done their time.
and 2. - Those who saw jail as the "price of doing business" and who had no qualms about the threat of time in jail. To them, jail was just another place to learn new tricks and to scheme up new criminal acts.
There are sex offenders in jail who refuse to take courses designed to prevent them from re-offending. The courses have to be voluntary, otherwise there's no way of distinguishing those who are genuinely remorseful and want to improve themselves, and those who just want to scheme their way out of jail. Obviously, those who refuse to undertake the courses have no intention of changing their behaviour.
The same applies to car thieves. They have to show they want to reform and change their behaviour and lifestyle, or it's a waste of time letting them out.
The amount of damage and costs and disruption caused by car thieves runs into hundreds of millions annually.
I know, I've had numerous vehicles stolen, and in every case, I still came out with losses that weren't covered by insurance - let alone the disruption caused by being without a vehicle, losing specialised
tools and equipment, and getting a payout that was below the vehicles replacement value.
Here's a classic example (link below). A thief stole a good Landcruiser, rammed bollards at Pt Hedland airport, and stole two ticket machines containing around $5000.
He later set fire to the Cruiser, and caused a bushfire that cost serious money to put out, and which put lives and buildings at risk.
He caused $160,000 worth of damage to airport property, destroyed a $50,000 Landcruiser - and caused major disruption, inconvenience and cost, to a large number of people.
The initial total bill would run into several hundred thousand dollars - then there's the cost of tracking him down and catching him. Then there's the costs of supplying a duty lawyer to defend him, court research into his background, criminal history, psych reports and God knows what else - and then the judges/magistrates time in sentencing him.
If he was locked away, none of these costs and disruption would be incurred, and the only cost is feeding and housing him, until he decides to go straight.
And of course, if we had prisons like the Americans, the Chinese or the Russians, our prisoners would be out working their guts off on community tasks, to help defray their "housing costs". [:-)
Thief causes major damage at Pt Hedland airport
Cheers, Ron.
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