980 Words

Past the immense parking lot filled with vehicles paying two bucks and a quarter per hour for the privilege of occupying a small piece of snow-packed asphalt, across a busy street, on down the block, and atop a high rise building, a Canadian flag snaps with the brisk, east by northeast wind. 

It’s 23 degrees below zero in the sun and there isn’t any sun to be found.  People so heavily bundled most become genderless, biped lumps scurry toward a crosswalk.  There is one younger man, his close-clipped hair receding rapidly into something that resembles a Mohawk cut, who is wearing only a hoodie.  He strolls as though it is a warm summer day with nowhere to go and all day to get there.

Across from me, and one car down, an old Indian is sitting in a midsize, white Chevy.  He is wearing a blue coat.  His deeply-lined face is the color of tobacco leaves and his iron-gray hair is long.  I watch as he deftly rolls what I assume to be a cigarette.  He lowers his window an inch then holds the flame from a disposable lighter to the cigarette.

I pick up a book, Jonathan Kellerman’s latest release, and try to read.  The book isn’t very engaging and my eyes burn from lack of sleep.  While four a.m. is an acceptable hour for retiring, it is entirely uncivilized for arising.

Snapping on the radio, I catch the last few minutes of a rant about a proposal to change the appearance of the Manitoba Provincial flag.  It’s a conservative radio station.  I’m not surprised the callers are passionately against change.

They launch into a discussion about proposed get-tough-on-crime legislation.  That’s an ever-popular subject nearly everywhere you go except, maybe, Singapore.  From what I understand, Singapore has tough anti-almost-everything laws.  If what I read is correct, Singapore doesn’t have a high crime rate.

It is no surprise the discussion is about Canadian crime; after all, I am in Canada.  It was also no surprise that the U.S. was mentioned frequently as an example of out-of-control crime.  I can’t say I agree with their assessments and sentiments, but I see how they could leap across the chasm to land them on that understanding. 

As with most discussions with a get tough theme, there was a heavy focus on increasing penalties for certain crimes.  Locking up the criminal and throwing away the key for an extremely long time will cure the problem.  At least that is the prevailing thought.  I had to smile.  In my opinion, that is a tremendously large crock of whatever you want to fill it with.  Locking someone up for an extended period of time will remove that person from the “arena of crime,” but as a deterrent, it does virtually nothing.  It is a whole lot like locking your house.  Those locks are a deterrent to an honest person, but a criminal won’t hesitate to get past your flimsy attempt at security.

I think it safe, and fair, to say that most criminals don’t believe they will get caught.  Sure, they have an intellectual knowledge that it could happen, but emotionally, I think not so much.  Deep down, they either think getting caught is something that is going to happen to the other guy or the rewards will greatly outweigh the potential cost.

The majority of crime, violent crime, springs from the drug trade where the profit potential is staggering.  Gangs vie for territory, which easily translates into death and destruction for gang members and innocent bystanders.  Drug users commit countless crimes in an effort to feed the demon that gnaws at their body, mind, and soul.

We’ve been waging war on drugs for one hell of a lot of years.  I have to think that the war is over and we lost.  For every shipment that is stopped, how many more shipments find their way to the streets?  For every pusher, mule, and drug lord that is brought to the bar of justice, how many go free and how many are waiting in the wings to step into the tiny vacuum created by the arrest and incarceration?

If I was into tilting windmills, I’d be tempted to say that it is time to legalize most drugs in a manner that would flush most of the profit out of the trade while minimizing the addiction of new addicts.

We are a christian and conservative society, so I know that one isn’t going to fly. 

It is time to get tough on crime.  In order to do that, we have to come up with something a hell of a lot more effective than tossing someone’s ass in prison for 25 years instead of 10 years.  It is time to come up with something that really is tough, graphic, and very visible.

I suggest death.  Authorize the police to execute, on the spot, anyone they catch that is using, dealing, or transporting drugs.  Don’t bother about judges, attorneys, courts, civil liberties, or anything else.  Execute them in a very public manner.  Hell, show the film at 11 and post the pictures on a web site.  Send Officer Friendly into the schools to scare the hell out of kids with something that is real.

Sure, you’re going to do away with an occasional innocent person.  We have a few innocent people in prison now.  It happens.  Better to punish a few innocent than allow a bad guy to get away.

You want to get tough on crime, that’s the way to do it.  The prisons are overcrowded now and the crime rate is soaring.  Get a clue.  It isn’t working.

It’s Sunday, March 01, 2009 and that may be what I think.  It may also be total hyperbole.  You be the judge … the jury … and the executioner.  

Life is sweet – even when I get tired of the bullshit.