(no subject)
A new article from the U.S. top automobile insurers lists the top ten cities for automobile theft, and Washington holds the number 6 (Seattle) and number 9 (Yakima) spots on the list.
I think a big part of this is that Washington law (and California, which is the only state that fared worse on the list) treats car theft as a victimless crime with the lowest penalty of any felony on the books. But it's not victimless. For the vast majority of working middle-class, the loss of a car (even in the absolute best case where it is recovered intact within a couple weeks) can be devastating due to income lost when they can't get to work.
I have to wonder what those numbers would be like if we actually started penalizing car thieves instead of penalizing car theft victims.
I think a big part of this is that Washington law (and California, which is the only state that fared worse on the list) treats car theft as a victimless crime with the lowest penalty of any felony on the books. But it's not victimless. For the vast majority of working middle-class, the loss of a car (even in the absolute best case where it is recovered intact within a couple weeks) can be devastating due to income lost when they can't get to work.
I have to wonder what those numbers would be like if we actually started penalizing car thieves instead of penalizing car theft victims.