I am getting a little tired of the way so many people throw up their hands and blame “social media” when incidents like this “flash mob” theft spree occur.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHyug2PvpB8
The caption reads,
according to the video, the officer refused to investigate the crime, and only viewed this incident as shoplifting.
IMO, attitudes like those of that officer (along with many other people) are the problem. Not the existence of sophisticated communications technology.
That the thieves used social media is only relevant insofar as it is proof that the crime was not mere shoplifting, but a much more serious criminal conspiracy to commit grand theft. That video shows multiple felonies, and if it can be shown that the people talked to each other beforehand and entered into an agreement to hit that 7-11, that is by definition a criminal conspiracy.
So why aren’t the police doing what they would do if they had a bank robbery video? They have evidence to arrest the people shown stealing, and they can obtain warrants to search their communications devices to look for evidence of conspiracy. But they don’t do that. Instead they sit back and complain about the social media.
BTW, a conspiracy is simply,
an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement.
It doesn’t matter where or how they agreed. Whether on the street, on the telephone, via email, by texting, by Blackberry, Ipod, on Facebook, at a web site, wherever.
Why is the focus on the method of communication instead of the crime?
QUESTION: Couldn’t what happened here also be considered looting? The thieves deliberately staged a small riot, and used the chaos to their advantage.
Rioting and looting are also more serious crimes than shoplifting, whether they are enabled by social media or not.
Comments
7 responses to “A criminal conspiracy is a criminal conspiracy”
“It doesn’t matter where or how they agreed. Whether on the street, on the telephone, via email, by texting, by Blackberry, Ipod, on Facebook, at a web site, wherever.
Why is the focus on the method of communication instead of the crime?”
Zing! Great point.
It’s easier. Blame the tool, not the person, then you don’t have to risk yourself responding.
(Blaring alarms) Oops. Sorry. I blew out the legal sarcasm limit again.
Shop lifting, or RICO conspiracy? Bunny Inspectors can figure out how to bust magicians but police can’t quite figure out what to do about this?
the officer refused to investigate the crime
Great, let’s encourage this.
What I can’t ascertain is whether the police don’t do anything because they don’t want to do anything, or because the powers that be don’t want them to do anything.
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