MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

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  :o))

  No longer in succession line but in the position to wipe-off the charges against him [and his band of thieves] and be considered as “clean”!

  Dec 09th, 2016 - 10:34 am - Link - Report abuse 0
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  Jack Bauer

  @DT (replying to the exchange under “US acor Steven S...”)
  
  The reason why the killings in Rio don't solve anything, is probably because there’s an infinite supply of criminals…one gets killed, another pops up…depending on the size of a slum, you’ll have one or more gangs fighting for supremacy…kids growing up under their influence, join, attracted by the dream of easy money, and ‘power’…despite usually being short lived…most don’t reach 25. Can’t say why they leave home, but once they do, they resort to crime to survive. By what they see in their communities, they soon learn their lives aren't worth much, so to them, neither are their victim’s.
  It’s usually only a matter of time before they kill…and being minors, if caught, the Justice system is so inefficient that they are back on the streets in no time. And this cycle repeats itself until they themselves are killed. The stats showing that 20% of killings in Rio are committed by the police, totally ignore the cops that are shot, or killed in the line of duty, or assassinated, off-duty - 386 in the first 11 months of 2016, of which over 100 died. Just for the record, the (organized) SP death squads I mentioned before, no longer exist as such, but Rio has this characteristic of the slums being plonk in the middle of the city, so crime, which in SP usually gravitates around the (far fewer) slum areas, infests every inch of Rio. Today, in Rio, while some cops work for gangs (also as spies within the police), most are unprepared and simply caught up in an unending war; most killings are related to shootouts between police and gangs.
  When the military handed power back to the civilians, many of the so-called ‘freedom fighters’ who had escaped or been exiled, were pardoned and came back….so, from killers themselves, they found refuge in the PT and later became the 'guardians' (?) of human rights. While they defend their own interests and those of the party, the victims are the least of their concerns.

  Dec 11th, 2016 - 08:01 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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  DemonTree

  @JB
  Well, that certainly supports the argument that the death penalty is not a deterrent!
  
  I think the biggest risk with all the police shootings, is that the police end up becoming just another armed gang vying for power in the city. They have basically lost control already. When the police escalate to killing the criminals on sight, the criminals know damn well they had better try and kill the police first, so it doesn't actually make them any safer.
  
  And the fact that when the criminals are killed, more appear to take their place, really shows that a different solution is needed. People wouldn't choose a lifestyle that is likely to get them killed by 25 if they had other options.
  
  From what I know, the biggest predictor of crime is inequality, not poverty as such. (I suppose if everyone is poor, then there is nothing to steal.) As well as trying to reduce inequality, which is hard, the most effective way to tackle the crime would be to cut off the gangs' income as much as possible. Do you have any idea what they make most of their money from?

  Dec 13th, 2016 - 08:35 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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  Jack Bauer

  @DT,
  While the death penalty may not be a deterrent, it would certainly avoid the return of many hardened criminals to society...Changing the subject slightly, but still to do with crime, the cost may vary by State, but to maintain an inmate is expensive. In State prison, an inmate costs roughly two minimum salaries per month..in Federal prison, it can triple. An inmate, on average, costs 3 times the cost of a student in the public education system....it's probably high-time they started charging inmates daily rates, to pay for their upkeep (as in many US prisons); then there's the cost of building new prisons, as the prison population just keeps on growing...one vacancy in a Federal prison costs more to build than one popular housing unit....and absurd as it may sound, if a criminal who is sent to prison, has ever contributed to the social security system, while he's in prison, his family receives a handout, equivalent to about 120% of the minimum salary, per dependent...last year alone, this cost was way over US$ 100 million...so it seems 'crime does pay' ; building new prisons is not an investment, it's just more expense, not to mention that many criminal factions have their HQ's inside the prisons, from where they issue their orders to the outside world...and crime carries on as usual...also, the percentage of repeat offenders is extremely high, so in the end it makes you stop and wonder, why keep these guys alive ?
  The reason why youngsters turn to crime is not as simple as “a lack of option”...they could easily study if they wanted to, but they prefer not to - the easy money at a young age, is a strong magnet, and even knowing that once in, they may get killed, they all think they can foil death.
  And don't you believe it - they use the poor in their communities as shields, and are not above stealing from them either. They are heartless, cruel SOB's.
  Main money sources : drugs, bank robberies, stealing valuable cargoes, kidnapping...

  Dec 14th, 2016 - 08:38 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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