Shoplifters' choice: public humiliation? Or juvenile detention

[Bram]

Teen shoplifters @ a convenience store get a choice between a ride in a police car vs working off the $200 fine in the store itself, while wearing a red t-shirt saying "I stole from the ... store".

What do you think of this?

Here's the link:

http://www.komotv.com/news/5329436.html

[2B]

I'm surprised they aren't being sued yet.

The other problem I see is that the perp is "working" in the store for the pseudo pay of $200. I'm willing to bet that the store owner isn't paying their SS and medicare or plans on issuing a 1099 at the end of the year. There's also a potential issues with workers comp and other labor issues.

I personally think it's a great idea. I hope that the store has an iron clad release from the parents and they have the other legal issues covered.

[TromboneAl]

The T-shirt should say:

"I stole from this store, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt!"

[dex]

I think the term "Public Humiliation" is an oxymoron in the USA today.

[riskadverse]

If I was the shoplifter, I'd opt for the t shirt. I could learn about the cameras, how to avoid them and maybe get access to the cash drawer or the safe.

[justin]

You guys call yourselves LBYM'ers and FIRE's?! Seriously, you're given a choice between free room and board, and a wide array of entertainment options ON SOMEONE ELSE's DIME versus working and not getting anything free?! I'd be all over the free handouts!

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Uh oh, this is going to quickly turn into the Baguette Maneuver ER method.

Buy a one way ticket to a country that has really, really nice prisons. I think france or sweden or someplace was once determined to be the ideal place. Buy a baguette, walk into a bank and loudly announce "This is a robbery"...preferably in the native tongue. Persist in waving the bagette in a threating manner until the police arrive, then surrender and plead guilty to as long a sentence as possible.

Enjoy your sub $1k retirement.

Probably some good countries to avoid as well, like Turkey.

[bssc]

Given how public humiliation seems to help people get attention, I would look for C List celebrities to start trying to shoplift at these places and then publicly ask for forgiveness.

[sgeeeee]

I don't know. I think that anyone who "learns a valuable lesson" because they were made to wear a demeaning T shirt and work 26 hours would be far more affected by being processed, printed, photoed, and held in a cell without shoestrings or belt for a few hours. Neither one of these options is fair or right for all cases.

[Peaceful_Warrior]

I'm not convinced that public humiliation is the best way to "lead by example" and encourage more respectable behavior. Though working off the value of the stolen items does have merit, I just don't think I'd put that shirt on them.

[Nords]

Originally Posted by riskaverse

If I was the shoplifter, I'd opt for the t shirt. I could learn about the cameras, how to avoid them and maybe get access to the cash drawer or the safe.

It's like making Willie Sutton mop the bank's floors or handle their computer backups...

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by justin

You guys call yourselves LBYM'ers and FIRE's?! Seriously, you're given a choice between free room and board, and a wide array of entertainment options ON SOMEONE ELSE's DIME versus working and not getting anything free?! I'd be all over the free handouts!

My nephew routinely goes to jail for driving with a suspended license. He said he likes it there.

Mike D.

[justin]

Originally Posted by MikeD

My nephew routinely goes to jail for driving with a suspended license. He said he likes it there.

I've heard similar things from my sister-in-law's baby's daddy. He said that if you're going to the county jail, make sure you get in early so you get a matress and a cot. Otherwise, if you get there late, you may have to sleep on the floor w/o a mattress, and people walk over you all the time. Food's not half bad, though. And you get to reconnect with all those old friends you hadn't seen in a while.

Different strokes for different folks...

[Nords]

Originally Posted by MikeD

My nephew routinely goes to jail for driving with a suspended license. He said he likes it there.

Originally Posted by justin

... make sure you get in early so you get a matress and a cot. Otherwise, if you get there late, you may have to sleep on the floor w/o a mattress, and people walk over you all the time. Food's not half bad, though. And you get to reconnect with all those old friends you hadn't seen in a while.

Hmmm... these people seem to have adapted well to their chosen environments.

How do they feel about standing watch? Would they like to talk to a recruiter about a career in submarines?

[laurence]

My Uncle is in the L.A. County Sherriff Dept. and worked the jails for some time. He echoes your statements, saw the same people over and over. They would get out, do drugs and commit crimes to fund their drug habit. It would get more and more expensive as they needed more and more to get high. Then they'd get busted for theft or whatever, get 6 to 18 months and "clean up" (a.k.a. get their tolerances lower) meet up with buddies, get some health care, etc. He said it was a lifestyle.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

The "30 Days" episode on going to jail for a month was pretty interesting.

In the 'traditional jail', most of the guys werent there for their first go-round, and shortly after being released would quickly return.

He spent the latter part of the 'month in jail' in a new style of jail that tries to rehab the prisoners, putting them through programs to clean themselves up, learn skills, and get placed in jobs. He heavily interviewed a couple of guys who seemed to really want to straighten their lives out. IIRC one had been in and out of jail most of his life, while the other was a first timer. After seeing them turn over a new leaf, it sure seemed obvious that the 'good jail' was the way to go and that these guys were going to straighten up, or at least try.

At the end of the show, he reported that both of them bounced right back into jail in short order, for the same sort of stuff that got them there in the first place.

Spurlock didnt finish out the whole month. Begged off a few days early with the excuse that most inmates only do 85% of their sentence.

[2B]

Originally Posted by Cute Fuzzy Bunny

Uh oh, this is going to quickly turn into the Baguette Maneuver ER method.

Buy a one way ticket to a country that has really, really nice prisons. I think france or sweden or someplace was once determined to be the ideal place. Buy a baguette, walk into a bank and loudly announce "This is a robbery"...preferably in the native tongue. Persist in waving the bagette in a threating manner until the police arrive, then surrender and plead guilty to as long a sentence as possible.

Enjoy your sub $1k retirement.

Probably some good countries to avoid as well, like Turkey.

Go for the Netherlands -- conjugal visits and, if necessary, arranged from the local "labor pool." Even EazyGFN would be covered.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Well at least we have a good backup plan for when the bulletproof annuities and ultra safe social security dont work...

[2B]

Originally Posted by Cute Fuzzy Bunny

Well at least we have a good backup plan for when the bulletproof annuities and ultra safe social security dont work...

It's probably better to do it before you start taking SS at age 70.

[justin]

Originally Posted by Nords

How do they feel about standing watch? Would they like to talk to a recruiter about a career in submarines?

The guy I was talking about doesn't like to work (perfect ER material ). He did think about joining a security contractor firm f