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If some kids wear colorful bandannas or L.A. Raiders
hats to an amusement park, those kids fit the
gang-member profile.
They often get hauled off for a
photo and fingerprint session.
This sensible method of preserving public safety has upset a few bleeding-hearts, who whine about civil rights, the presumption of innocence and free expression.
Complaining won't help, since such issues now mean
nothing to the Supreme Court. Instead, the whiners should
urge the police to expand their potential criminal
profiles
to include other known dangerous
categories.
· Quiet Neighbors. The suspect in the United Bank Father's Day Massacre is described by his neighbors as a quiet fellow who cared for home and lawn.
That's no surprise. Almost always, when there's an
arrest in a heinous multiple murder, you read the same
comment from the suspect's neighbors: It's unbelievable.
He was real quiet, never bothered anybody. He took real
good care of his property, and he was a good
neighbor.
If the police can find time for kids who wear the wrong caps, then certainly they have time to sweep suburban neighborhoods and find those who match the criminal profile -- quiet regular guys with lawn mowers or hedge clippers. Haul those Quiet Neighbors off to preventive detention, and scores of innocent victims will be spared.
· Respectable People. Marilyn Van Derbur Atler's father was a pillar of the community during the years that he was sexually abusing her. David Bath, star of some racy videos with juvenile males, staunchly upheld traditional values in the Colorado General Assembly.
More examples appear almost daily, and the criminal profile is obvious: Civic respectability is often a cloak for perversion. Why isn't the vice squad busy checking out every beloved youth minister, honored scout leader, esteemed teacher, public benefactor and the like?
· Three-Piece Suits. Why bother with the
small-timers in their gang colors at amusement parks? As
Don Vito Corleone said, A lawyer with his briefcase can
steal more than a hundred men with guns.
The largest
theft in history -- $500 billion from American taxpayers in
the S&L scandal -- was pulled off by bankers,
real-estate developers, accountants, congressmen and
lawyers.
The criminal profile is clear; anyone wearing a three-piece suit (perhaps the color of the tie indicates the precise gang affiliation) at a financial institution should be presumed guilty of grand larceny until proven innocent.
We all want a safer society. Discouraging youth gangs might help, but we really need a concentrated assault on murder, perversion and theft. When will our lily-livered police start going after the suspicious folks -- Quiet Neighbors, Respectable Citizens and Three-piece Thieves -- who fit the big-time criminal profiles?
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