I'm sure many of you saw and read reports about blatant, in-broad-daylight robberies of container-carrying trains in Chicago last week.
Jarring video from a news helicopter in Chicago Friday captured a gang of thieves ransacking a freight cargo train moments before they were confronted by cops with their guns drawn.
Chopper 7 with ABC Chicago was on the scene as a group of ransackers made their way through a train in the South Austin neighborhood on the west side of Chicago.
The plunder included televisions and air fryers, according to a CBS News report.
Officials said the railway is no stranger to these types of freight cargo thefts – but rarely, if ever, are they caught live on television.
Police officers were eventually called to the scene and a confrontation with the highwaymen was caught live on television. Officers swarmed with their guns drawn as some suspects tried to make away in their cars.
. . .
There were no reports of shots fired and there have been no reports of arrests made.
Less than an hour after officers and looters left the scene – Chicago’s ABC7 caught more people breaking into train cars.
There's more at the link.
It's reminiscent of reports from early 2022 of similar crimes in Los Angeles.
Photos and videos showing piles of empty boxes littered alongside rail tracks in Los Angeles County, California have gone viral as shipping companies say they’ve seen a dramatic spike in railroad theft. Some of the boxes are packages from companies like UPS, Amazon and FedEx.
Union Pacific, one of the country’s largest railroad companies, says it may avoid operating in Los Angeles County following the spike in thefts, whichit blames on lax prosecution of crimes. The containers and trains are locked, but can be broken into.
Union Pacific said last month in a letter to the Los Angeles District Attorney that it saw a 160% year-over-year increasein theft in LA county. The company claims that a December 2020 special directive issued by District Attorney George Gascón that changed how low-level offenses are prosecuted has contributed to the uptick.
Again, more at the link.
Note the reference to the LA District Attorney and his "soft-on-crime" policies. Chicago has the same problem.
What this means is that:
- The police have no incentive to catch the criminals, because they know they'll be back on the streets within a matter of hours;
- The criminals have no incentive to stop committing their crimes, because they know they'll get away with it almost without penalty;
- The railways have no incentive to spend money on greater security, because if that greater security catches criminals, the cops won't arrest them and the prosecutors won't hold them in jail.
Welcome to the modern economy!
Peter
9 comments:
"The only winners are the companies that insure goods in transit, who make fat profits by raising their premiums because of the higher risk of loss."
The insurance companies don't really win. They raise the rates to cover the higher payouts. This may result in a higher absolute profit if they can still get the same rate of return.
But higher premiums invites people to complain about them and get the government to "do something". Which likely results in more regulation and more compliance costs.
If the government does too much, the insurance companies will exit that market - unless the government prevents them. Which just results in a loss all around.
No, the only winners are the thieves, who get the stolen goods or more likely the money from fencing them.
This has always been a problem. When I worked in Train Movement for the LIRR, we used to have problems anytime a wine car was exchanged at Fresh Pond Queens. Even with enhanced RR police security, the locals would attempt to liberate the wine. I imagine, with George Soros prosecutors in place all over, it's even worse now.
'Must be Cumalot's "opportunity economy..."
We live in a society and culture where the rule of law does not exist for those powerful enough or for those weak enough. Laws are only enforced on the great middle ground who still have faith and belief in them, enough to pay for said society and culture. When events make that faith and belief universally counterproductive; extreme unpleasantness ensues until a new Social Contract is formed.
History shows that the transition can come suddenly.
Subotai Bahadur
Say it after me, 'duh-versity is our strength!'
yeah. I made a point of this years ago to a friend.
it is very simple really. once the stores start closing due to shoplifting, they start going after the carriers . I.E. UPS. FEDEX and the trains. retail theft is just that theft.
it also why, you will see tanker trucks with a police escort here soon. look at the mess down in FLA for one.
there is one sure fire way to stop this crap.
but no one wants to be first to start shooting the bastards. although it will come to that in time. until then, plan on much more of this shit anywhere there is a rail line with goods on it. fear is the only thing that will keep the assholes in line. until that happens,,,,,
And WE pay for this in the end...grrrr
This isn't, strictly speaking, a police matter.
18 U.S.C. §1991, makes train robbery of any sort a 20-year federal sentence.
Pity the FBI is too busy making up fake dossiers and obstructing justice to gin up cases against Trump, otherwise they might find the manpower to squash this sort of activity, which is actually their job.
OTOH, the last time mail robbery on trains was a problem, they turned its security over to US Marines armed with shotguns and Thompson submachineguns, and train robberies dwindled rapidly until they became non-existent.
A prudent DoJ (as opposed to the incompetents we have now) would approach the problem using both those solutions simultaneously: let the Marines shoot all comers on sight, and then prosecute any survivors with federal maximum sentences.
One expects miscreants opening a couple of containers with half a dozen trigger-happy Marines inside instead of consumer goods would happen 2-3 times, max, before the exercise lost all appeal from coast to coast.
And the after-action videos would be hilarious.
"assholes"? You are way too kind. But there is no way one can describe these "assholes" accurately and not be banned from the internet.
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