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This doesn't match my model of most street crime.
I'll see a drugged out fentanyl addict (when they're not bent over like this) careen into the supermarket I'm shopping at, wearing about 3 layers too many and know instantly, this guy is going to steal some shit. I make eye contact with the security guard, do a little head nod as if to indicate, "hey, you see that guy? He's going to steal some shit". The guard gives a tired sigh as if to reply, "I fucking know, dude. What do you want me to do about it?", and I shrug and go back to shopping. Couple minutes later, I see the guard following the junkie - now with hoodie pockets stuffed full of batteries - out the door. I guess that's protocol. Junkie shambles off around the corner to the alley and probably sells his whole haul to another drug addict for $10 and moves on to smashing car windows to steal cans out of the cupholders or something. That's the street crime I see.
We have gangs. It's just that they're off in another part of the city shooting each other, and playing cops & robbers with the anti-gang police task force. I'm sure their crime is connected to the druggie stealing Duracells somewhere, but it doesn't feel like it. Maybe it's different in your city.
I think this is a large part if the issue. Even those who are hired to stop theft in a venue are for all intents and purposes forbidden to do their jobs, often by the fear of lawsuits or other reprisals. This makes criminals much less worried about getting caught, and much more likely to resort to crime as the best option. Even cops are often forced to simply watch until the crime has been done and the criminal has gotten away before being allowed to act. With such policies, those who don’t want to be victims of crime need to basically defy the laws in order to protect themselves and others and frankly their businesses.
Which is where this is going to end up, sooner or later. People fed up with being victimized will take it upon themselves to administer justice, and no matter what the laws actually say, people will be armed. That’s what happens when the law doesn’t protect people for whatever reason. The common people arm themselves and protect themselves.
People have been prosecuted for defending themselves in a tense situation in a non-premeditated way. If you're caught being in an armed vigilante gang in places like NY...
Normal, prosocial people have shit to lose. By definition, they're much easier to cow than nihilistic criminal sociopaths and high impulsivity druggies and morons.
This is why I never skip out on jury duty.
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Where this actually ends up is non-state institutions taking on core state functions and the police just letting them.
In the US where clans are dying out and confined to parts of the rural south, these non-state institutions are almost uniformly criminal gangs themselves. Protection money will become a regular business cost and lumpenproles will be intimidated by bikers(who have a slight human capital advantage because you have to be at least lower working class to join, due to the requirement of buying a motorcycle).
Would you recommend going with the Norteños or the Sureños? I like that the Norteños are a local business, but the Sureños have a great introductory deal going on right now ($5 monthly DoorDash credit!) and are offering lower interest rates for their BNPL program. Or maybe both, to hedge my bets?
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