Professional Thieves

Everyday their are people who go into grocery stores or supermarkets and pocket some food, or makeup, even jewelry. There are others who hold up a gas station with a pistol and maybe steal a thousand dollars if their lucky. These people I'm referring to would be considered novice thieves; ammeters. They lack the efficiency and knowledge a professional criminal has. Now when I say professional I mean someone who does this for a living, its their job essentially. 

Traits of a Professional thief:

-Patient, wait for the perfect opportunity, case out the place they are going to hit. 

-They have a specific skill set; pick locks, hack security systems, get away driver etc..

-Usually work in groups, one or two work as distractions or look outs.

-They have a plan of entry and escape. 

-Usually have inside information about where they are going to steal from.

-Good criminals have fences or people to sell what they stole too.

A great example of "Professional Criminals" would be all the members of the Bling Ring. If you don't already know this was a group of teenagers and young adults who went around the Hollywood area and burgled the homes of several celebrities. It was believed that this group stole upwards of 3$ million in just under a year' things stolen included large amounts of jewelry, clothes, and cosmetics. Most of the items stolen were from Paris Hilton who's house was hit numerous times. 

Auto theft in Canada

        When thinking of Auto Theft many people go directly to "Grand Theft Auto" video games, or the "Fast and Furious" movie series, a more glorified rendition of the kinds of auto crime that happen everyday. Now don't get me wrong there are many cases of professional organized car thieves that steal expensive as well as mass production cars. These people take cars and either strip them down for parts for resale, or re-VIN the vehicles and ship them to other continents such as Asia, and Europe. BUT the truth is, most auto theft can be is preformed by amateur criminals. They could be Joyriding, or possibly using the car for quick transportation, maybe stealing the car in order to commit another crime. Twenty eight percent of auto crime can be directly related to joyriders according to police. On average about four hundred cars are stolen a day in Canada, costing victims collectively about one point two billion dollars a year.

   

        The number one stolen car in Canada as determined by the Insurance Bureau of  Canada was the Toyota Venza, number two was the Honda Civic, and three was the Ford F350. When you first take a look at this list it doesn't look very impressive. I mean there are some nice Fords, but Chevy is the way to go, and a Toyota Venza isn't necessarily a "ballin ass ride." But all three of these vehicles are produced in large quantities, and many generic colors. If you look at a Honda Civic I'm pretty sure you have seen one driving around your town or city. They are a common car that are produced in large numbers, and this makes it easier for someone to steal and use or resell these types of cars. Even just changing the plates could alter the care enough to not be found by police or previous owners. If you live in a highly populated city, where there are bound to be bad neighbor hoods in, your car might be at risk of being stolen. If you are a thief in a large city there is also a better chance of you not being caught because of the number of other vehicles and the less chance you have of running into the person who;s car you stole. Cities like Regina, Vancouver, Montreal, and Kelowna, have large numbers of people and vehicles which can lead to higher rates of theft. Also places like Winnipeg, and Kelowna have spread out populations which indicate more cars because you need to drive 5 kilometers to get to the nearest gas station.

        There are many ways for people to help avoid getting their car stolen. First off lock your doors! I know its a simple thing that people do all the time, but the truth is large numbers of cars stolen are cars that were not locked. Another thing is to not leave expensive items in plain sight because someone will smash your window and just take that $&*#@. You should leave your car parked in a well lit area where lots of people can see it, this may deter a thief from stealing your car. Car theft is becoming more of an issue in Canada and with more people purchasing cars, more thieves will be out looking to get your stuff , so hopefully you protect it properly.

        

     

  

Hyper-masculinity and Sexual Assualt

Many people believe that Sexual Assault can be link to Hyper-masculinity, and people who commit acts of sexual violence are generally people who seek power, and strength. These men are scene as having primal characteristics of aggression, and think they should be sleeping with many females.

Some may say that this is not true, that most men aren't Hyper-masculine. The truth is men are taught to be masculine, and dominant. Boys at a young age are indoctrinated into a culture where men need to be powerful and strong to succeed. They are under the impression that if they are stronger than other men they are better. They play sports and games where they need to be the aggressor in order to win and gratify themselves or others. Now parents don't come out direct and say you need to be strong and tough!  If you aren't you will fail. But in the culture we live in today the norm is "The Strong Survive."    If a little boy gets hurt parents are most likely going to say "Suck it up Kid!"

In my personal opinion I think there are a number of forces that are attributed to sexual assault. Men may feel as if they aren't good enough, they could feel "in-masculine" and this could lead to them going out and seeking sexual gratification. Men are genetically more likely to try and be the more dominant rather than females, the thought that males in general are trying to spread their genes in order to enlarge their species. Another factor to consider is that in many cases women who are assaulted know the person who assaulted them. This acquaintance or friend would know some routines of the victim, know where they live, what they enjoy doing. Or it could be someone they see often like a store clerk, teacher, maintenance worker. These people have deep psychological issues that make them feel as if they need to dominate women, they are prizes, the more they sleep with the more masculine they are; or they could be feeling as if they need to go out and commit these crimes in order to bring some feeling of power and dominance into their lives. Women need to protect them selves from these type of men, but its not all up to the women. Parents of men need to have talks with their children about how they treat women, how they are not prizes, and no matter what they wear they aren't inviting anything.

Clifford Olsen Serial Murderer

Clifford Olsen


       Clifford Olsen is a notorious serial killer that is responsible for the deaths of eleven people, although claiming to up to thirty killings. Olsen had an extensive list of prior offences before Murder including over a hundred different convictions. Parents of Clifford Olsen are reported to say that he was always odd as a child, he was very cold and heartless, didn't show huge amounts of emotion. Olsen was in jail numerous times, but he escaped custody at least seven times as well. There were a series missing young children throughout the lower mainland during the time of Olsen's killings but he was still able to evade the police for long enough to kill eleven children. How was he able to do this ?

       Olsen was said to be a "rat", he was very good at hiding and staying under the radar. He was once tracked to have visited 8 states in 5 days traveling thousands of miles in multiple rental cars. Olsen was slippery. By the time Olsen was caught more than two hundred police were working on this case. They managed to find four bodies before Olsen revealed the location of the rest. This case was all over the media, which Olsen enjoyed greatly. Often boasting about so many other bodies, or people he had sexually assaulted that they would never find out about, he was a media whore. Another reason this case made such headlines is because of the pay off to Olsen's family in exchange for his information. Olsen offered the police the locations of all the bodies, statements about each killing, and to return jewelry and other clothing he kept as souvenirs if they paid his wife Joan one hundred thousand dollars. Olsen was sentenced to life in prison and recently passed away at the age of seventy one.

     Clifford Olsen is the perfect definition of a serial killer. Cold and calculated, with little emotion. A godly man who grew up in a strict home. He dropped out of school after grade eight and took up a life of crime racking up over sixty convictions by age twenty five. Olsen had a routine he followed during his murders. He shows many signs of being psychopathic, he used the bodies of each boy as a different "experiment." Olsen kept souvenirs of each killing, and didn't just do this all at once, it was a series of murders lasting almost a decade. He loved attention, especially from the media. He felt he was in power because he was the one who had evaded capture, and he was the one who knew where the bodies were which the police were desperate to find out. This case is so prolific and fascinating because of how long it took the police, and how "criminally genius" Olsen was.

(Clifford Olsen is a Monster and I am in no way trying to boast of him or glorify his actions, I just merely find it very interesting to look at the different aspects of this case.)

       

Marc Lepine Mass Murder

Marc Lepine


Marc Lepine was a man who entered a University in Quebec, shot 25 people ending in 14 deaths. The main target of Lepines massacre was women. How could someone commit such a disgusting act of violence? and why did he specifically target females?

Background.

Lepine grew up in Montreal with Mother Monique after a divorce due to abuse. The Father abused Marc as he was a child, also abusing his Mother. Marc began learning these traits throughout his upbringing and when his parents were divorced his hatred grew. His Mother had been attending university to provide a better income for the household and help Marc live a better live. Marc resented his Mother because he felt as if she was succeeding him, she was not in her "rightful" place which was at home cooking and cleaning. Throughout Marc's life he continued blaming women for his own hard ships. He couldn't hold a decent job because he didnt respect authority, especially if they were female. Co-workers described him as rude towards women, obnoxious, and arrogant. Marc was fired from many jobs, his blame was placed on women co workers rather than his own actions. Lepine was rejected from the army, and a number of schools; including Ecole de Polytechnique.

Motives

Marc did not just one day all of a sudden decide he was going to massacre a large number of women, it was a hatred that had been growing since his childhood. His obsessive hatred of women had made it hard for him to keep a job, acquire wealth, and live a normal life. Finally after a bleak life of depression and shortcomings Lepine reached a "breaking point." He had nothing left to live for, so he planned to go to that school and shoot as many women as he could, once he knew he was going to be caught he fired on himself without a second thought.


 

Victimization

         Crime theory  for the most part has been focused solely on why people are criminals, or what compels  them to commit crimes; but recently criminologists have directed their focus onto the victims point of view. It seems very reasonable, knowing both sides can give more insight into why certain people are targeted as victims, and why criminals single out these certain kind of people. 

         Victims and their relationship between the Justice system could be described as "Complicated." Now I know that a lot of people might disagree with that and say "The Justice System puts those criminals away in jail!" But the truth is the Justice system doesn't do the best job of comforting the victim (Even though they do their best.) Think of this though, you were just on the receiving end of a 1st degree assault, your on the road bloody and beaten. A man walks by and sees you lying their so he obviously calls the police. When the police get there your bombarded with questions. "What happend?" "What did the attacker look like?" "Why are you out walking by yourself?" "Can you tell us the full story of what transpired?" I bet you that your going to feel a little overwhelmed, maybe even embarrassed? You might think it was your fault that you became the victim of this crime. What will your friends and family say? Will they be ashamed? The cops want you to come and answer more questions, then they say they need you to ID a man in a line up! Your thinking "Oh Crap! I have to see this guy again. Then what will happen? I will have to go to court and testify in public and tell everyone what happened!"  This could all be pretty scary if your a first time Victim, and that's the point I'm making about the Justice System. You might think its all good and dandy and they catch the bad guy and its all over, but that's not the case. The Police and courts make you relive the moments of the crime, they make you tell the story over and over. Having to relive that moment may cause Victims a great amount of mental stress. Some Victims of crime are so traumatized or scared they might not even want to tell any one that something happend. Victims go through this "Re-Victimization" by the Justice System cause's short and long term problems. Stress and Fear are a big one, Victims will isolate or confine themselves so they feel safe, and feel as if no criminal will get them ever again. They can become paranoid, agitated, depressed, certain noises could trigger traumatic memories. Post Traumatic stress Disorder, OCD, Schizophrenia, and many other mental illnesses have been directly linked to being the Victim of a violent crime. These illnesses can take years to get over, even with counseling many Victims cant make peace with what happened to them.   Having to spend so much time with the police and in courts can take time away from work and family. Being so stressed out,  or scared leads to isolationism which could cause you to not want to even go to work, or not go the extra mile to apply for jobs, go out with friends, and can stop peoples social lives very swiftly. Crime takes a heavy tole on the victim very soon after, and even long after the crime has been done.

          Leobardo Gamez of Phoenix was charged with breaking and entering on November 29th. He smashed through the living room window and allegedly held a gun to the head of a young boy in the house. Police were able to calm the man down and subdue him, Gamez claimed he was running for his life from a Mexican drug cartel boss who's wife Gamez apparently "shacked up with." The members of this family have since left the state. These people obviously experienced a very scary event. A man smashed through their front window and put a gun to a young boys head. The family is most likely paranoid and fearful that this could happen again. A statement was published from the father of the boy saying "I watched a man hold a pistol to my sons head, I thought that would be my last memory of him." Now you can see that this is a very serious traumatic event for this family, and it isn't something that you can forget about the next day. I can only imagine the fear that young boy goes through every day, and the amount of precautions this family is making speaks the the emotional stress they are facing. Moving states, and the Family has bought an expensive securtiy alarm for their new house . This story is just an example of the severe mental, emotional, and financial effects that crime has on vitcims.

Colton DeRycke.         

Drug Crime

Drug Crimes in British Columbia are high because of a few different reasons. 

            

                 B.C. has a large consumer base in densely populated areas such as Vancouver and Victoria; and these areas host large homeless populations who also become addicted to drugs and alcohol ( 1650 homeless persons in Vancouver, 573 in Victoria.)

                 Gangs in B.C. struggle for power in drug trafficking due to stricter laws being implemented in Mexico to try and combat the Drug cartels.

                 Drugs can be brought in through the high traffic boarder as well as the expansive coast line. So B.C. is more accessible than places in land of the Coast. Large quantities of drugs exclusively cocaine are exchanged for Marijuana. 

                 Geographically British Columbia offers very optimum growing conditions. B.C accounts for more than half of licensed growers/users of Marijuana. 54 % of people in B.C. have admitted to using pot before in their lives. Over 2/3 of Drug offences yearly are accounted to Marijuana.

                 Police raided a medical marijuana grow op in Abbotsford last Tuesday and found it to have eight times the limit of 35 plants, 295 plants were found on the property (Abbotsford Times.) The people who build grow ops, or get medical cards so they can try and legally sell weed have the choice to just not do that but they are tempted by the profit, maybe power, the feeling they get when they are high, or maybe they are selling drugs as a means to survive. But I think all of them are faced with 2 choices and they think that growing and selling weed or other drugs is the best option.