Art Montague's Blog

Posted by Art Montague

This week's Crime 101 article about sex crime wasn't fun -- the subject isn't fun. In fact, it's such an emotional issue I had to do some soul-searching, and I came up with my somewhat cold-blooded side. Maybe that has to do with having raised four children and sometimes being almost nauseated at the thought of some whacko getting at them. Maybe it has to do with having a spate of grandchildren and still having the same concern.

I've saved the testiest material for next week's article and hope I can be forgiven for needing a cooling down period, so here goes.

Here are a couple of really funny tales from the past week's array of dumb crime:

A woman was busted for impaired driving and was duly placed in the back of the police car. She wriggled through the partition, got in the driver's seat and fled the scene, leaving the arresting cop standing on the roadside, notebook in hand. As if to make his case, about a mile up the road, she missed a turn and sent the police car sailing into a river, in which, of course, it promptly sank. Her defence should be very interesting, but definitely not water-tight.

In another case, a speeder's defence was definitely put out of joint - well, sort of. This dude ran radar and then kept right on going, constables in hot pursuit. They twisted, they turned, they got off pavement and churned gravel, swerved, swiveled, gunned engines, and squealed brakes. The speeder's dog, originally snoozing on the front passenger seat, had finally had enough. The dog attacked the driver, growling, snapping, chomping. Finally, the speeder pulled over. The arresting officer rushed him to a hospital. He took the tip of his nose in a handy doggie bag. With luck and a good surgeon, the speeder may recover the balance of his beak. As for the dog, the item didn't say.

Posted by Art Montague

Going back a few decades, say to the 50's, we discover that the so-called nuclear family wasn't all Ozzies and Harriets. Many people had to struggle to make ends meet. My dad was one such person.

Dad was a pretty fair backyard mechanic. He bought old cars and got them running (at least long enough for the buyer to drive a few miles away), then sold them through the local classifieds. He also did a little bootlegging on Sundays. At that time, beer and liquor stores were closed on Sundays.

The Sixties and Seventies weren't much different. Not every kid was able to wallow along through life like Beaver Cleaver or Opie.

Who remembers Marlon Brando portraying a bad ass biker in The Wild Ones? Hardly anyone, maybe, because he smoked cigarettes. More of us remember The Fonz, a cool Harley biker, who was everyone's "go-to" guy (and he didn't smoke.) But, be mindful, bad ass bikers in the form of outlaw bike gangs are now a major component of organized crime in Canada and the U.S.

How about the Beatles, exponents of Sixties sweetness, light, and universal love? And the Rolling Stones -- hard, coarse, raunchy. Except for the odd commemorative album or concert, The Beatles are now just Golden Oldies, wisps of maudlin nostalgia. The Rolling Stones? They're still in our face, a reminder that we have become a harder, coarser society.

So what's the point? The gap between dreams and reality has become filled with more than restless sleeps. It's more the stuff of nightmares.

Yet, people still find ways to make ends meet. Ignoring the law continues to be one, but the scale and prevalence of the possibilities have increased. Now it's no longer once in a while, it's every day. And the usual response? A shrug and the ubiquitous comment, "Whatever."

Posted by Art Montague

Most eye catching was the defense's argument for a lesser charge, not least being that the accused had killed the wrong "target(s)"-- ergo, the murders were not premeditated. Call the children's deaths "collateral damage."

The facts of the case, described in confessions: a lowlife, sometime minor police informant was accused around the neighborhood of having molested the son of a local single mother. His street rep besmirched, this character recruited a couple of buddies to deal with the mother.

Burning down the house with her in it was the plan they came up with, of course assuring each other, without firm foreknowledge, that the children wouldn't be at home. They torched the home with gasoline bombs. The mother escaped the inferno. The children died.

Atrocities like this one certainly provide grist for the pro-capital punishment mill. First is the crime itself. Then there's the gall to present such a defense, even when Canada's criminal code is clear that murder committed during the commission of another crime is capital murder. Fortunately, to the extent possible, the court found correctly

Of course, the three will serve their sentences segregated from other inmates. General prison populations take a dim view of suspected pedophiles, self-confessed police informants, and child murderers. "Gee, it was all a mistake, and I'm really sorry!" doesn't cut it inside prison walls.

Criminals certainly aren't alone in behaving bizarrely. Recently in the U.S., an execution was postponed because the convicted killer had gone insane. The court ordered medical treatment to restore enough sanity to insure the convict understood why he was being executed. Bully for humane treatment!

Posted by Art Montague

In my June 21 article on the high cost of crime, I spoke of equpment and human resources costs, but I did not touch on the statistical justifications for criminal justice budgets.

• Crime rates are often a function of incident-reporting frequency and data identification but collection techniques may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
• Criminal activity clearance rates in police departments are routinely inflated when perpetrators plea-bargain. Guilty/Not Guilty ratios are inaccurate because so few cases actually go to trial.
• Probation success rates are suspect because probation officers regularly carry caseloads so enormous they can't possibly provide supervision.
• Right up in the realm of grotesquely fiddled figures are parole success rates from some jurisdictions. Often a parolee who dies while still on parole is counted as a success, which helps, of course, to justify the parole department's budget.
• The dollar value of drug confiscations is routinely over-reported, if only because market values fluctuate constantly and vary widely from locale to locale.
• Consider, too, that financial institutions and retailers routinely under-report many losses due to fraud, identity theft, shoplifting, and employee theft. Accuracy would be bad PR. Anyway, these losses are passed down to the consumer, ensuring business bottom lines stay black.

Many of the pieces I write on the subject of crime may not include statistics or dollar figures. Too much of the data is flawed because of imperfect or self-interested research.

Accuracy is one of the greatest challenges facing the criminal justice system. Without that, assessing value for cost is moot. If anyone cares to discuss these points, I'm open.

Posted by Art Montague

Old-timers in prison lament that young people don't abide by the inmates' code. Probably when these old-timers were young, their old-timers were whining the same lament about them: The times, however, they are a-changing. Now it's every man for himself, or for the special interests of his gang.

The evolution, expansion, and diversification of street gangs exacerbate the dilemma. Today's law enforcement needs more than an Eliot Ness, a J. Edgar Hoover, or a Sam Spade. It needs flexibility, and it needs money. Mostly, in my view, it needs divorce from self-aggrandizing politicians, who too often tailor legislation to serve their own interests rather than those of their constitutents. Indeed, our political environment is a key factor in the fruition of these gangs.

As the bad guys get older -- if they survive -- they get wiser, wealthier, and more powerful. Incarceration, as noted in my article, is no big deal to the leadership because power is as much a lure to gang life as money. So is security -- a gang is a regular Band of Brothers.

No one reckoned on the strangling grip drugs would take on the throat of North America. As far as organized crime went, law enforcement was pre-occupied with destroying the Mafia, Cosa Nostra, Unione Siciliane, Black Hand - whatever one chooses to call it. Success left a vacuum which has been filled by biker gangs, ethnic gangs, prison gangs, and offshore gangs like those emanating from Nigeria.

On another note, check out my newest poll.

And, finally, a story that might leave readers pondering the wisdom of the courts. Year in and year out, a Toronto man deliberately ignored paying court-ordered support payments. Year in and year out, he would be sentenced to 30 days in jail for contempt of court. And year in and year out, he took his holidays from work to coincide with the jail term. For him, the sentence was a State-paid, all-inclusive vacation. He always came back to work refreshed. So it goes.

Posted by Art Montague

Clearly, drug crimes, though often tied to the top three, must be addressed separately. These will be the subject of later articles.

In retrospect, I'd have to say the poll was biased. Four out of five possible choices were inherently violent to begin with. Even with numbers up in the American Idol range, different choices would have produced different results.

The available choices might easily have been: identity theft, stock fraud, counterfeiting, breach of trust, and house burglary. In that group, the "people's choice" would likely be house burglary. So much for my objectivity.

I liked a survey recently carried out for the Ottawa City Police. The police wanted a lead on where to direct their resources. Speeders, drunk drivers, and people running red lights and stop signs were the priorities. Cyclists who disobeyed traffic laws also got some play, as did aggressive panhandling.

I liked these numbers because they suggest that Ottawa may be a pretty good place to live. It said citizens must look both ways before crossing a street but suggested they needn't fear getting mugged while waiting for a light to change.

Unfortunately, the police survey was a little tarnished by one disturbing finding. Many people were reluctant to go out-of-doors alone after dark. The prevalence of a night-time siege mentality is a little scary. Then suddenly, I realized that I too rarely go out after dark, and when I have to, I prefer to be locked safely in my car. Somewhere in that is a message I don't like very much.

Posted by Art Montague

It's important to remember that a lot of very nasty crime we now endure is a spin-off from bad, short-sighted laws. These laws are often enacted in response to public outrage. The outrage is often driven by special interest groups to stimulate broad support for their points of view. Other such laws, of course, come about as knee-jerk political responses to sensational, horrific, and sometimes isolated incidents.

But, if we're going to enact bad laws forcing people to protect themselves from themselves, let's look at some other potentials.

We could criminalize obesity. Anyone diagnosed as medically obese could be given jail time for ordering a super-sized meal. For their own good they could be put on a strict diet in jail and not be released until they've lost X number of pounds, the number to be spelled out in legislation according to height, age, genetic profile, and whatever else lobbyists may decide is appropriate.

We should probably criminalize skin cancer too. Canadian writer Lawrence Scanlan recently reported that throughout the world "one in three cancers are skin-related," better overall than in the U.S., where the rate is one in two. I suspect there's a lot of anti-smoking zealots lying about in tanning salons (a $5 billion annual business in the U.S.) plotting how to ban smoking, and maybe to ensure there's enough money in the health pot to treat their future melanomas.

On another note, perhaps people with a masochist bent should look at public transit bus driving as a career. Drivers have excellent opportunities to be verbally abused, spit upon, gnawed, beaten up, or targetted for tossed objects. Best locations? In Canada, Winnipeg and Ottawa are prime spots.

Even sadists are beginning to feel the sharp edge of the law. Recently a man was charged with possession of a dangerous weapon after being videotaped filing his dentures to points.

Expect a new survey questionnaire soon and a piece (or series) focused to the results of the current one. Don't forget to vote.

Finally, do keep a sharp eye for bad laws and stupid crimes and let me know about them. They lighten the darkness of the underworld. Sometimes.

Posted by Art Montague

I think of two cases of "crimes" against the elderly: those of Ronnie Biggs and Paddy Mitchell, both incarcerated for a long, long time.

Biggs, a minor player in the Great Train Robbery, made the mistake of embarrassing the British government many times over. He thumbed his nose at them until strokes and age left him too weak to raise his arm. Although he is nearly 78 years and helpless, the government has repeatedly denied him compassionate parole to die at home among his family.

Paddy Mitchell embarrassed the FBI as the elusive leader of the Stopwatch Gang, perhaps the most successful armed robbery gang in North American history. Their total take in the U.S. and Canada: $15 million in 100+ robberies. Paddy too is getting on in years. He's currently serving 30 years in a U.S. federal prison, but unlike Ronnie Biggs, he's not trying to get out. All he wants is a transfer to a Canadian prison to be close to his family. With that, he'll still likely die in prison. The U.S. and Canada have a formal prison transfer program in place, but the feds are saying, "No way. We've got him. We're keeping him."

'Tis a sad and spiteful thing they do.

Did Paddy or Ronnie kill anybody? No. Did they hurt anybody? No. Yet, Ronnie will die an old man in a prison hospital ward. So will Paddy in all probability -- Paddy just wants his to be Canadian. Lucky for Ronnie, though, he's so far gone, he may not realize where he is.

Posted by Art Montague

Bribery can be a necessity, like it or not. The bribe may go to a cop to avoid arrest - that's crime - or go to a waiter as a tip to ensure good service (or reward it). Basically, a bribe is a benefit provided to the recipient outside the scope of requirement or obligation, and a benefit is expected in return. It happens every day in many different ways. The practice starts in childhood, except parents term it "a reward," usually in addition to whatever is earned. It's not always tainted or criminal. Even a dog will take a bribe if it has enough meat on it.

The point is: some bribes are criminal, some are not. In this week's article I look at some that definitely are.

I'm new to this blogging business, not sure whether to use it to vent or just have some fun. From time to time, I think, fun will prevail. Take stupid crimes, for instance. The burglar who steals a rifle but forgets to take the bolt for it. Or the burglar who gets a hernia trying to steal a massive penny collection. Both cases are for real. Then there's the story of the burglar who made himself a meal in the victim's kitchen. The victim was justifiably angry - not about the loss of his goods, but because the burglar didn't wash up the dishes afterward.

Our little crime survey is boogeying along very nicely. It isn't representative because the numbers are still small, but it does offer readers two cents worth of opinion. Then there's the discussion page ... that's got to be worth more, plus it gives me a challenge to which I can occasionally respond. Maybe it'll keep me sharp or, at least, not nearly so dull.

Posted by Art Montague

The Crime questionnaire will be running for 3 more weeks. By then, results should indicate a priority list of concerns. Until then, you may expect some material (for example, on home security needs) that will lay a foundation for more specific articles.

Back to the questionnaire. I selected five concerns out of ten I wanted to list: street crime, street gangs, sex crimes, white collar crimes, and illicit drugs. These have received some response.

Curiously, illicit drugs hasn't stirred any interest. This may be because drugs are often part and parcel of other criminal activity. Or, maybe drugs are seen as so prevalent they've become a non-issue, rather like liquor by the time Prohibition was repealed.

I'm ready to wait and see, but in the meantime, I welcome your comments.

Posted by Art Montague

Gun violence has become so common and casual these days that shooting incidents only make the paper on a slow news day.

The fear factor is my gun issue. Ever had a gun pointed at you in anger? And know instantly that "Bang, bang, you're dead!" could be a finger twitch away? Fear you taste, a taste that stays with you for years.

Still, I lean to the view that the guns aren't the problem, it's the fingers on the triggers. The more fingers on triggers, the more danger.

I have to think that far more people have been threatened with a gun than have been shot. That fear is a conditioner. You change, you become less civilized. Quality of life? Forget it. Think survival.

On the Street:

Freeze when you hear a sudden loud car exhaust or screeching tires.

Avoid eye contact with passersby in case they're off their lithium and happen to be packing.

Scope out the ATM in case you get a gun in your ribs as soon as you punch in your PIN numbers.

At Home:

Stay away from windows.

Don't sit on the front porch after dark.

Shop by mail order or online.

If you can't avoid your neighbors, be friendly but impersonal because "you never know."

Is this siege mentality? Pretty much, but it may help you live to a ripe old age - that's when second-hand smoke or a drunk driver will get you. But even in old age, you'll still feel that fear of the gun in your face.