It's a sad sign of the times -- and I'm not just speaking of the incredible numbers of "car prowl" crimes that are hitting Seattle, crimes that involve smashing the windows of parked cars and then ripping off the stereo, GPS system, and anything else that's within reach. Nearly 400 "car prowls" were reported within Seattle's city limits...within two weeks!"There's nothing [the police] can do about it," said one fellow whose car has been busted up and plundered so many times he's lost count. "The cost of replacing the window doesn't meet his insurance deductible and the police don't even come out to take a report anymore." And even if one of the thugs is caught, he is charged with merely a misdemeanor offense.
Theresa Tyler, who works at Speedy Glass in Seattle, said she had 12 vehicles in the shop on a recent Monday morning that had all been damaged during car prowls. She estimates that 97 percent of broken car-door windows are from car prowls. "It's busier this year," she said. "People are getting more desperate and more nervy."
Crime soaring. Woefully inefficient police protection. A court system indifferent to the plight of innocent citizens.
Welcome to the "kinder and gentler" 21st Century.
But the sad sign of the times I referred to in the first sentence isn't the crime itself or even the abject failure of the "justice system" to stop them. Rather, it's the sense of surrender (even irrational sympathy) to lawlessness the citizenry is experiencing. Case in point?
A Rainier Valley woman, who didn't want to be named, said she leaves her car door unlocked and a coin jar on her seat as a peace offering to the prowlers. "It's a gift so they won't break my windows and go through my stuff," she said.
