Crime Crisis: When You Are The Victim
By Mark Fernwood, a member of the Contra Costa Republican Central Committee and Danville resident.
You have a crime problem when others are robbed. It becomes a crisis when YOU are the victim....
I was the victim in the news story below. Fortunately, we were not harmed, but Pat, my wife, was in the passenger seat and remains rather traumatized. However, one panicked instant by these thugs and I would now be dead. Probably Pat would have been murdered too.
We had just pulled up the front of Trader Joes, when I opened my door to get out, two young thugs instantly pointed guns right at my face and demanded my watch. They quickly jumped into a waiting car and sped away. The watch is an 18K Rolex Submariner worth about $40K.
The Danville Police Department was nothing short of amazing. While interviewing multiple witnesses in front, one officer walked up and showed me a picture of my watch on his phone. The idiots posted it on Instagram bragging about their haul. I was told the police knew who they were. As with almost all serious criminals, I am told they are very frequent offenders. I will be most interested in finding out how many times they have been arrested, convicted and very shortly, released. Released to continue their career in crime.
I received multiple calls from the Danville police updating me on the case, including a call from our Chief, Allan Shields. I was told my case is being taken very seriously, and even additional investigative resources were brought in. I even received a call from our Sheriff, David Livingston. The arrests were made that very evening. How amazing is that!
To the other extreme, our County District Attorney Diana Becton has publicly stated that she does not believe in prosecuting many types of crimes like looting, gun crime enhancements and gang enhancements. As I have been told the gun-wielding robbers that assaulted us were gang members, will they be properly prosecuted? Time will tell. Of the three arrested, I am told two are minors so their careers will only have only very short interruptions.
Pat and I are examples of the very many "failures" in the Great Experiment on society of being soft on crime. We have a "recycling" problem. Thieves and deadly thugs are all too quickly "recycled" back to society.
Even in "safe" communities, like Danville, we need to become cautious. "Situational Awareness" is the term for this. We need to realize we are only a short commute for those seeking prime lootings.
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Subject: Watch "3 arrested in armed robbery at Danville Trader Joe's" on YouTube https://youtu.be/xsHvfBmK_ww