A conversation with a policeman, on my doorstep, at 6am this morning:

Policeman: Uh, hello. Sorry to bother you so early.

Me: How can I help you?

Policeman: Is that your Mercedes out front?

Me: Uh… yeah.

Policeman: Well, we picked up a couple of kids in the neighborhood this morning. They’d been going around taking faceplates from car stereos. A couple of neighbors caught them and called it in. We picked them up pretty quickly. Is this your faceplate?

Me: Yeah, it is.

Policeman: Alright. These kids were pretty apologetic and they’ve been telling me where they got everything… So here, let me give this back to you…

Me: Thanks

Policeman: Yeah. So. I guess they were just going around and trying to find unlocked cars. I guess yours was unlocked.

Me: Really?

Policeman: Yeah. The question now is if you want to press charges or not. I mean, you’ll have to go to court and everything if you do… but…

Me: Well, I don’t know. How old is this kid?

Policeman: Sixteen

Me: Is he scared?

Policeman: Well, I gave him a good talking-to and he’s really shook up. His friend is worse off—he had four faceplates and a stolen laptop. We’ve tracked down most of the owners though…

At this point in the conversation, I carefully weighed the fate of the sixteen year old hooligan and made my decision. But I’m curious, Blogtownies. What would you have done?

25 replies on “What Would Blogtownies Do?”

  1. I got picked up for stealing at 14 and just getting put in a holding cell for 2 hours and having to see my dad’s face when he came to pick me up did the trick. My dad recently told me that they never even charged me because they knew I looked like I already knew it was wrong. I wouldn’t press charges if the officer sincerely believes they are repentant.

  4. Why would they just take the faceplates? Stoopid kids. Don’t you know you need the stereo itself in order to get anything at the pawn shop?

  5. Once you are in the system, you are always in the system. Hopefully they learned their lesson, sending them to jail at 16 would more likely than not fuck up them up for life.

  6. I can be “apologetic” too when I get caught doing something I’m not supposed to. Their behavior won’t change. Community service might do some good…

    btw…Mercedes? Aren’t you a bit overpaid… 😛

  8. I am the guardian of my 17 year old brother and have been for the last 2 years due to his excessive mischief. One topic that I have learned in this effort is how he often views others’ attempt at compassion or giving him a break as his ability to get away with something or being above it all.

    So what can be done that isn’t jail but also isn’t a statement that says “Your young and don’t need to follow the law?”

  9. I had exactly the same experience with a PPB cop two months ago. He let me sit in that stew for about ten minutes. I asked him, what would you do? He gave me less than a shrug.

    I saw the kid out of the corner of my eye. I’ve seen him around the neighborhood. He swiped my camera ten seconds later. With help from a pal I cornered him about an hour later. He was 15 and scared. He said some dumb stuff. He’s black & from Somalia, I’m white & once read a book about Somalia.

    Fate is shit. I let him go.

  11. No charges if the kid is willing to put in a few hours somewhere. It’d be best if you were willing to do it together. Get to know you. He needs to see that he hurt real people. Might make him think twice next time if he realizes there’s a person on the other end.

  13. Jeez, let him go and get over it. 🙁

    Lock your car next time or, better yet, sell the car and be green.

    This reminds me of the cops who would leave an open semi trailer full of expensive electronics abandoned in a poor black neighborhood, and then when eventually an impoverished person came and took a flat screen TV, they charged them with larceny.

    It’s more immoral than the actual theft.

  14. Are you kidding? The laptop contains my whole life’s work. The faceplates I could care less about…but I would go to court. Stop them from doing it to someone else!

  18. I would ask the kids father (on the off chance he (1) has one, and (2) the father can be located) what he would want me to do. I the kids parents take the incident seriously and look like they care…let them take care of it. If they did anything to minimize the event, or deflect the blame to someone else, Press Charges hard.

  19. With statistics showing that more than 2/3 of people who go to jail are arrested again, it leads me to believe that the system does more damage than good. Community service is no guarantee. I wouldn’t risk it. On a side note, have you seen Oz? Fucking best show ever.

  20. book ’em dann-o.
    little snots should pay, or at least put ’em in the octagon with the owners of all of the faceplates and the (i’m sure) irrate laptop owner…nothin a black eye can’t fix!

  23. Let him go … I’m sure he would have given back all the stuff he stole. Thats what usually happens… they steal once realize its bad, give back what they stole and never steal again. 😉

  24. I’m proud of you, Coleman.
    Where you could have punished this child with full impunity and vengeful justice,
    you chose to have MERCY and weighed the circumstances against his remorse.
    MERCY: what JESUS would do 😉

    well played

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