Stupid burglar, smart police
The stupidity award goes to the 21 year old alleged burglar in Queenstown who removes his balaclava while trying to break into a safe, giving us his picture on the security camera.
The smartness award goes to the Queenstown Police for putting the photos up on their Facebook page to see if people recognised him. They did and he was arrested.
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Tags: Facebook, Police
January 14th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Sure he was pretty dumb, but hey trying to crack a safe with an angle grinder he was never going to win a nobel prize.
The REALLY dumb thing was splashing all his mistakes all over TV/Internet so the next crook can learn from them, now that is stupid ( You could argue they’ll learn most from the ridicule & not make the mistakes to avoid that, but smart criminals do a Madoff not this ).
January 14th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Talking about stupid and what happened to the Labour Party staffers who stole the grog? Back at ‘work’ no doubt dreaming up new ways for Labour to steal our money.
January 14th, 2009 at 11:29 am
Judging by the way the Americans restrict freedoms on the internet, ultimately all the internet will be dwindled to is a police state tool.
January 14th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Crime.
I saw a piece in the Bay of Plenty Times while on holiday.
The bank in Te Puke was robbed and the police called.
The robber patiently waited outside the bank for the police to arrive. He told the police that all his friends were in prison and he wanted to join them again.
I have never seen this gem in any other news media.
January 14th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Tauhei – Hilarious!
January 14th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Tauhei: It’s here but you’re right, it hasn’t got picked up elsewhere it seems.
A perfect example of why keeping people locked up for so long they become institutionalised, not rehabilitating them and then tossing them into the community with little or no support to help them adapt to a ‘normal’ life is not only counter-productive from the perspective of the offender, but actually puts the community at greater risk. Are you listening, Mr McVicar, or can you not hear over the sound of your own ranting?
January 14th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
This story is – somehow – a vindication of those of us Freedom Fighters who oppose the Liarbore socialists and their evil insidious attempts to take away our liberty by forcing us to wear compulsory protective head gear. Yeah.
Individual responsibility et cetera!…
Let the market sort it out et cetera!…
January 14th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
“A perfect example of why keeping people locked up for so long they become institutionalized”
well Rex, It could also be that our prison system is just too comfortable and attractive (it ain’t a deterrent to some)
January 14th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
ahem,……. http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2009/01/making_millions_from_behind_bars.html
January 14th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Patrick Starr said “It could also be that our prison system is just too comfortable and attractive (it ain’t a deterrent to some)”
Maybe because their home lives are so terrible?
cos there is no way prison would be comfortable or attractive to me
January 14th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Patrick:
That’s a valid suggestion but I suspect it’s not the case in this instance. I have yet to see a home, however dilapidated, that wasn’t more comfortable and welcoming than a prison cell. Nor do most homes force you to bunk up with at least one, usually more, people who may have very different standards of hygiene, behaviour and privacy than you do (and that’s if you’re lucky and get non-violent bunkmates). Even on a budget the food is better (not for nothing did we call the ‘rissoles’ which were regularly served up “brake pads” – exactly the same colour, consistency and – if anyone had ever managed to bite into one – I’d imagine flavour). And for most people, there’s family at home or nearby, and friends to spend time with.
The argument that it’s not tough enough to deter the most violent offenders from reoffending may well be correct since they do reoffend and presumably don’t care if they’re caught or think they won’t be; but this guy didn’t try to get away, he didn’t seriously try to rob a bank, he just wasn’t coping on the outside.
It seems more likely that, as Tauhei speculates, he simply had no friends or family on the outside (or had been disowned by them). That can be incredibly lonely. Just being released from an absolutely regimented environment where you don’t even own your own underpants let alone choose what clothes to put on in the morning or what to have for breakfast into a world where suddenly everything is a choice can be terrifying.
I hadn’t been there that long, but when finally told bail had unexpectedly been sorted I asked if I could stay one more night to get myself psychologically prepared for the outside world (they won’t let you).
So without knowing this guy I can state with almost near certainty you’re wrong in this particular instance. If the poor sod had been properly rehabilitated and supported in transitioning to the outside world he’d most likely be a productive member of society and those poor bank employees wouldn’t have been traumatised.
January 15th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
“I have never seen this gem in any other news media.”
Tauhei,,
did you see this mornings Herald about the bar manager who taped a guy breaking into his bar and friends told him the identity. so he goes to the cops and after days nothing has happened.
He gives them another ring “what’s going on?”
“WE got a lot of crime on at the moment.”
“But not with taped evidence of the perp’” our man sagely advises with your story in mind.
so off he trots to Rodney who swiftly makes some enquiries and low and behold detectives are assigned to the case!
What an easy job thay had. Perp arrested and most of the stolen alcohol retreived. he had actually been selling it from his home and police were hellping add to his profit for a few days.
Naturally the police get full credit and public initiative meant nothing. No comment though.