Friday, November 13, 2009
Car theft = free taxi?
Heard something amazing and sorta disgusting on KHQ-TV just now.
Car theft is running wild in Spokane, with 31,000 thefts reported so far this year. That would be about 1 of every 6 cars. According to police, many of these thefts are "free taxi rides" where the thief locates a warming-up car, hops in, drives it to where he wants to go, and parks it. Doesn't keep it, sell it or strip it.
The cops have basically stopped handling car theft, and in this case I can't blame them. Common law and common sense agree that possession is not passive. To fully possess property, whether a car or a copyright, you have to defend it, make it hard to steal or invade. If you invite theft by leaving the car unlocked and running, you've weakened your claim to the car.
= = = = =
After a bit of checking on the outrageous 31000 number given by the TV station, I'm pretty sure it's off by a zero. Journalists nowadays are mainly girls, and Math Class Is Hard. According to this insurance industry source, Spokane had 2122 officially listed auto thefts in 2008; so an increase to 3100 would be more likely. ¶ 6:41 AM
Car theft is running wild in Spokane, with 31,000 thefts reported so far this year. That would be about 1 of every 6 cars. According to police, many of these thefts are "free taxi rides" where the thief locates a warming-up car, hops in, drives it to where he wants to go, and parks it. Doesn't keep it, sell it or strip it.
The cops have basically stopped handling car theft, and in this case I can't blame them. Common law and common sense agree that possession is not passive. To fully possess property, whether a car or a copyright, you have to defend it, make it hard to steal or invade. If you invite theft by leaving the car unlocked and running, you've weakened your claim to the car.
= = = = =
After a bit of checking on the outrageous 31000 number given by the TV station, I'm pretty sure it's off by a zero. Journalists nowadays are mainly girls, and Math Class Is Hard. According to this insurance industry source, Spokane had 2122 officially listed auto thefts in 2008; so an increase to 3100 would be more likely. ¶ 6:41 AM
