Wednesday, July 23, 2008

CUC crime spree

It's just silly superstition I guess, but I didn't want to mention crimes caused by power outages until they happened. Beware sympathetic magic; don't tempt fate.

I'm sure it's not a first, but the Marianas Variety is reporting an assault in San Vicente Monday.

Evidently it started as shoplifting during an *unscheduled* power outage, but the owner's son chased five teenagers into the street. (Yeah, that's not a wise move, but I've done similar things in the heat of the moment, only to realize 'lawdy, I'm outnumbered'.)

He was conked on the head with a beer bottle-- let's not talk about that teenage issue here.

You can't blame the Department of Public Safety for this one. How can they protect all of the stores and houses without lights, especially when they don't know where and how long the outages will be?

Security cameras aren't much good unless you've got backup power. Let's just hope burglars using darkness as cover snatch CUC-kill items.

We could also hope the Variety keeps after DPS for follow-up on this case. It doesn't sound too hard.

The kids are all right


Just to balance the yin with the yang, I'll give teenagers and CNMI Space.com a plug. An online Variety ad caught my eye yesterday so I checked it out.

It's not my crowd, but Charlie Atalig has a good idea. I hope it works for him. Lessee, somebody... aha Walt Goodridge wrote about it. I've peeked when my son and niece played on Myspace and it can get a little creepy.

As a parent, I'd be happier with them using this place in virtual space. MMMuuahh...the kiss of death.

A couple of things even caught my interest, like the videos and the joke I'll never tell. If you can't figure that out, think about why Jesse Jackson can use the "n" word but it's not okay for me.

iSLaNdErS isn't bad either. It could be cut by half to tighten it up or reduced to a 'ten reasons' list, but that's just personal preference.

3 comments:

Lil' Hammerhead said...

DPS is partially to blame Kap. If all those resources put towards stopping traffic at rush hour on paydays to check seatbelts, was directed instead to village patrols.. crime would have been down substantially, and criminals would not be as emboldened as they are now.

We waste money on speed checks, gas for DPS SUV's, seatbelt checks, morning rush-hour funeral parades, dui stops, etc. etc.

We need fewer of these and more village patrols. DPS has gotten donations of mopeds, bikes, and motorized skateboards. They should put these to use on patrols.

KAP said...

How do they check when the lights are out everywhere? That's the part that isn't their fault.

I've always assumed that the roadblocks for DUI and seatbelts are required to keep federal grants. Spend federal money to get more.

Motorized skateboards? I missed that one.

Lil' Hammerhead said...

Alright.. they aren't exactly skateboards, more like razrs/kickboards (with motors). Manning the lights is a recent conundrum.. the need for village patrols is many many years overdue.

You're right on the checks.. but I'm sure they're overdoing it. Nowhere else I've ever lived has had the number of stopchecks that happen here. Not even close.

Point is.. their limited resources should be directed to patrols in the villages. Homes and businesses getting robbed in broad daylight is common. The crooks have open-access and safe-haven in almost every village on the island. Crime is becoming more frequent.. and worse, criminals are becoming bolder.