Who Commits Crime?

Posted on | July 10, 2010 | 44 Comments

When I was about 15, I read Helter Skelter, prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi’s account of the Manson Family and the Tate-LaBianca murders. One fact that struck me was that Manson was, for most of his life, a small-time hoodlum who compiled a record for relatively minor crimes like burglary, car theft and foregery long before he became notorious as the leader of a murder cult.

A few years later, as a freshman in college, I was assigned to read In Cold Blood, Truman Capote’s classic crime story about the murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. The same pattern was evident: Dick Hickock and Perry Smith had been a couple of minor criminals — forgery, theft, assault, etc. — until they committed the mass murder that made them infamous.

You see this pattern replicated in many other high-profile murders. Matthew Shepard’s killers, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, both had criminal records — one for marijuana possession and the other for burglary. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had been busted as juveniles for a break-in and theft about 14 months before they perpetrated the Columbine High massacre.

This pattern illustrates a common-sense truth so basic that it seems a bit silly to state it directly: Criminals commit crime.

Because of the way crime is portrayed in both the news media and popular entertainment, many Americans have been conditioned to think of murder as a crime to which everyone is equally susceptible. TV detective dramas especially present this distorted perspective, because the element of surprise usually requires that the killer be someone unsuspected — the apparently upstanding citizen whose hidden motive for murder is uncovered in the final 10 minutes of the hour-long mystery. The man-bites-dog angle in journalism means that when a murder is committed by a previously law-abiding person, this fact will be highlighted in news coverage. And sometimes, as in the Shepard murder, the criminal background of the killers will mostly be ignored by media focused on more “newsworthy” elements of the crime.

Contrary to media distortions, criminality is not evenly distributed throughout the population. A small and fairly distinct group of career criminals — recidivists, habitual violators, call them what you will — account for the majority of serious crime in America. This fact was best illustrated in the early 1990s, when transit policy in New York City decided to crack down on subway turnstile-jumpers and discovered that about 15 percent of those apprehended were wanted on warrants for major felonies, including armed robbery, rape and murder.

Murder is simply one end of a continuum of criminality and, therefore, leniency toward “minor” crimes will inevitably result in more murders, as illustrated by the case of a suspected Los Angeles serial killer:

Investigators believe they have connected “Grim Sleeper” suspect Lonnie Franklin Jr. to 10 murders.
Now they are trying to tie him to dozens more.
More than 30 cold case files dating back to 1984 are getting a new look in light of Franklin’s arrest, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said Friday. . . .
Franklin was arrested at least 15 times for car theft, burglary, assaults and other crimes, but avoided prison despite calls by law enforcement officials for tough sentences, according to Los Angeles County court records released Friday and obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
Franklin faced up to three years in prison in 2003 after pleading no contest to receiving stolen property, He was sentenced to 270 days in jail and released in May 2003, more than four months early, the records showed. Two months later, the body of one of Franklin’s alleged victims was found.

If Franklin is indeed the “Grim Sleeper,” many victims may have died simply because California authorities failed to imprison him for his “minor” offenses.

Criminals commit crime.

Category: Crime

Comments

44 Responses to “Who Commits Crime?”

Joe
July 10th, 2010 @ 3:13 pm

Yes, people rarely out of the blue just intentionally off someone.
Joe
July 10th, 2010 @ 11:13 am

Yes, people rarely out of the blue just intentionally off someone.
Bill S.
July 10th, 2010 @ 3:41 pm

If the correlation is true, how does one know if the perpetrator will learn from getting caught? Just make sentences gradually stiffer, until extended jail time is achieved? Not all small-time hoods will end up murders, either. How can one tell if the person is likely to turn down that path?
Bill S.
July 10th, 2010 @ 11:41 am

If the correlation is true, how does one know if the perpetrator will learn from getting caught? Just make sentences gradually stiffer, until extended jail time is achieved? Not all small-time hoods will end up murders, either. How can one tell if the person is likely to turn down that path?
King Samir Shabbaz
July 10th, 2010 @ 3:43 pm

You crackas be lying! Bruthas are never serial killers! Don’t you watch your own TV shows?

Brutha Franklin saw those race-traitor bitches talkin to crackas! These were liberation killings!
King Samir Shabbaz
July 10th, 2010 @ 11:43 am

You crackas be lying! Bruthas are never serial killers! Don’t you watch your own TV shows?

Brutha Franklin saw those race-traitor bitches talkin to crackas! These were liberation killings!
Rob
July 10th, 2010 @ 4:16 pm

Bill and Stacy,
There is strong correlation in petty criminals eventually committing murder. I think the best way to solve it is to prosecute continually prosecute offenders to the maximum extent possible (EVEN CASUAL DRUG USERS).
Rob
July 10th, 2010 @ 12:16 pm

Bill and Stacy,
There is strong correlation in petty criminals eventually committing murder. I think the best way to solve it is to prosecute continually prosecute offenders to the maximum extent possible (EVEN CASUAL DRUG USERS).
hkb
July 10th, 2010 @ 4:33 pm

Find a copy of Ed Sander’s, “The Family” – it makes “Helter Skelter” read like box scores.
hkb
July 10th, 2010 @ 12:33 pm

Find a copy of Ed Sander’s, “The Family” – it makes “Helter Skelter” read like box scores.
dad29
July 10th, 2010 @ 4:44 pm

Also interesting (but I have no way to verify this…)

A cop-pal of mine told me that somewhere north of 90% of all shootings are drug-related crimes.
dad29
July 10th, 2010 @ 12:44 pm

Also interesting (but I have no way to verify this…)

A cop-pal of mine told me that somewhere north of 90% of all shootings are drug-related crimes.
Richard McEnroe
July 10th, 2010 @ 4:55 pm

Dad29 — throw in booze and you can break 95% easy.
Richard McEnroe
July 10th, 2010 @ 12:55 pm

Dad29 — throw in booze and you can break 95% easy.
Such Are The Times We Live In… « The Camp Of The Saints
July 10th, 2010 @ 1:17 pm

[…] case in point: Stacy McCain has felt compelled to write a nearly five hundred word posting to prove a simple, straight-forward, and plan-as-the-nose-on-you-face truth: criminals commit […]
AngelaTC
July 10th, 2010 @ 5:44 pm

I am not entirely disagreeing, and statistics certainly prove it, but the cops seem to have adopted a trend in the past 20 years or so of arresting people for things that, in our checkered pasts, would have only resulted in a stern look, a good lecture, and instructions to get the hell away from the scene.

If I were compiling the stats, I’d certainly examine whether charges like marijuana possession and disorderly conduct should carry the same weight as leading indicators as say, B&E and grand theft auto.
AngelaTC
July 10th, 2010 @ 1:44 pm

I am not entirely disagreeing, and statistics certainly prove it, but the cops seem to have adopted a trend in the past 20 years or so of arresting people for things that, in our checkered pasts, would have only resulted in a stern look, a good lecture, and instructions to get the hell away from the scene.

If I were compiling the stats, I’d certainly examine whether charges like marijuana possession and disorderly conduct should carry the same weight as leading indicators as say, B&E and grand theft auto.
Stogie
July 10th, 2010 @ 6:12 pm

gg: Hi Kejda, I thought I recognized your immaturity. Still wearing those Chucky Johnson kneepads?
Stogie
July 10th, 2010 @ 2:12 pm

gg: Hi Kejda, I thought I recognized your immaturity. Still wearing those Chucky Johnson kneepads?
Rhymes With Right
July 10th, 2010 @ 6:50 pm

My wife grew up with one of the three victims of a nationally covered triple murder three summers ago in Connecticut, in which a mother and her two daughters were killed by a couple of previously petty criminals just out of jail. The trials have not even begun yet! Assuming they get the death penalty they deserve, it is likely that we’ll be drawing on our retirement accounts before the SOBs are sent to their infernal reward. So much for protecting the law-abiding from the criminal class.
Rhymes With Right
July 10th, 2010 @ 2:50 pm

My wife grew up with one of the three victims of a nationally covered triple murder three summers ago in Connecticut, in which a mother and her two daughters were killed by a couple of previously petty criminals just out of jail. The trials have not even begun yet! Assuming they get the death penalty they deserve, it is likely that we’ll be drawing on our retirement accounts before the SOBs are sent to their infernal reward. So much for protecting the law-abiding from the criminal class.
Joe
July 10th, 2010 @ 7:02 pm

Stogie. Good theory. Kejda manages to hoodwink the good people at Commentary, while still walking the wild side after work with CJ and his merry band of fascist/right wingnut finders.
Joe
July 10th, 2010 @ 3:02 pm

Stogie. Good theory. Kejda manages to hoodwink the good people at Commentary, while still walking the wild side after work with CJ and his merry band of fascist/right wingnut finders.
Obi's Sister
July 10th, 2010 @ 7:20 pm

#11

Background.
Obi's Sister
July 10th, 2010 @ 3:20 pm

#11

Background.
just a conservative girl
July 10th, 2010 @ 7:52 pm

Ooh, I can’t even look at pictures of Manson. He is what evil looks like. I had nightmares for three days after watching him interviewed when I was younger. Not something that I am prone to.

I don’t think there is an easy solution to this problem. Some people make youthful mistakes and find their way to the other side and live good productive lives. Taking a somewhat good kid and putting him into prison for a long term may actually make the situation worse. I used to work with someone whose nephew went out and got drunk with a bunch of people he didn’t know all that well. They ended up committing armed robbery that night at an all night store. He got a very long prison term and came out a very different person, not in a good way. He did it to himself, but who knows if it would have been different if he had gotten a shorter sentance or not put in a prison that was full of really dangerous criminals.
just a conservative girl
July 10th, 2010 @ 3:52 pm

Ooh, I can’t even look at pictures of Manson. He is what evil looks like. I had nightmares for three days after watching him interviewed when I was younger. Not something that I am prone to.

I don’t think there is an easy solution to this problem. Some people make youthful mistakes and find their way to the other side and live good productive lives. Taking a somewhat good kid and putting him into prison for a long term may actually make the situation worse. I used to work with someone whose nephew went out and got drunk with a bunch of people he didn’t know all that well. They ended up committing armed robbery that night at an all night store. He got a very long prison term and came out a very different person, not in a good way. He did it to himself, but who knows if it would have been different if he had gotten a shorter sentance or not put in a prison that was full of really dangerous criminals.
Carol
July 10th, 2010 @ 5:14 pm

About two weeks ago Dontae Morris shot two Tampa police officers to death during a routine traffic stop. Morris had been arrested 18 previous times and had just gotten out of jail in April. His mother admitted that she knew he had been in some trouble before but said never for anything “serious”. (He had previously been arrested for murder but wasn’t convicted after the witnesses suddenly developed amnesia)

Since being arrested Morris has been charged with two other murders he committed since April and is suspected in a fifth murder.

Four people dead and ten children left without fathers because we didn’t throw away the key on Morris when we had the chance.
Carol
July 10th, 2010 @ 9:14 pm

About two weeks ago Dontae Morris shot two Tampa police officers to death during a routine traffic stop. Morris had been arrested 18 previous times and had just gotten out of jail in April. His mother admitted that she knew he had been in some trouble before but said never for anything “serious”. (He had previously been arrested for murder but wasn’t convicted after the witnesses suddenly developed amnesia)

Since being arrested Morris has been charged with two other murders he committed since April and is suspected in a fifth murder.

Four people dead and ten children left without fathers because we didn’t throw away the key on Morris when we had the chance.
JeffS
July 10th, 2010 @ 9:45 pm

RE: #11 and #14. That explains quite a bit about gg’s behavior, ummmmmm, “logic”, and “thinking” . Thanks!
JeffS
July 10th, 2010 @ 5:45 pm

RE: #11 and #14. That explains quite a bit about gg’s behavior, ummmmmm, “logic”, and “thinking” . Thanks!
JeffS
July 10th, 2010 @ 9:47 pm

#16, just a conservative girl:

I agree. The man has never given me nightmares, but he does personify evil incarnate.
JeffS
July 10th, 2010 @ 5:47 pm

#16, just a conservative girl:

I agree. The man has never given me nightmares, but he does personify evil incarnate.
The Boogieman
July 10th, 2010 @ 10:11 pm

gg

boo.
The Boogieman
July 10th, 2010 @ 6:11 pm

gg

boo.
Roxeanne de Luca
July 11th, 2010 @ 12:13 am

This obviously puts to rest the notion that there is any paradox to the fact that America has the highest incarceration rate and the lowest crime rate of any developed nation.
Roxeanne de Luca
July 10th, 2010 @ 8:13 pm

This obviously puts to rest the notion that there is any paradox to the fact that America has the highest incarceration rate and the lowest crime rate of any developed nation.
Dregs of the Ancients
July 11th, 2010 @ 3:27 am

The broken window theory of crime-fighting has been around a lot longer than Giuliani. Here is the Chinese philosopher Han Feizi, writing in the 3rd centure B.C.:

“The law of [statesman] Shang Yang was to take seriously minor crime. Serious crimes are those that are more difficult to commit, while minor transactions are easily refrained from. Thus, ensuring that people refrain from what they could easily commit is not unrelated to [causing them to refrain from] what it is more difficult to commit. This is the Tao of good governance. When minor infractions are not committed, serious crimes will not arise, and this will result in the people avoiding all criminality and chaos not arising [in the realm]. It is claimed that Lord Shang said “In enforcing punishments, treat minor crimes seriously. If minor crimes are not committed, serious crimes will not arise. This is called using punishment [of minor crimes] to do away with the need for punishment [of serious crimes].””

Han Feizi, “Nei chu shuo”, part I.
Dregs of the Ancients
July 10th, 2010 @ 11:27 pm

The broken window theory of crime-fighting has been around a lot longer than Giuliani. Here is the Chinese philosopher Han Feizi, writing in the 3rd centure B.C.:

“The law of [statesman] Shang Yang was to take seriously minor crime. Serious crimes are those that are more difficult to commit, while minor transactions are easily refrained from. Thus, ensuring that people refrain from what they could easily commit is not unrelated to [causing them to refrain from] what it is more difficult to commit. This is the Tao of good governance. When minor infractions are not committed, serious crimes will not arise, and this will result in the people avoiding all criminality and chaos not arising [in the realm]. It is claimed that Lord Shang said “In enforcing punishments, treat minor crimes seriously. If minor crimes are not committed, serious crimes will not arise. This is called using punishment [of minor crimes] to do away with the need for punishment [of serious crimes].””

Han Feizi, “Nei chu shuo”, part I.
Linkage is Good for You: Dare to Dare Edition
July 11th, 2010 @ 6:05 am

[…] Robert Stacy McCain – “Who Commits Crime?” […]
FenelonSpoke
July 11th, 2010 @ 11:36 am

Is there some way gg can be blocked? He’s taking up bandwidth in what appears to stream of consciousness writing or mental illness. Very annoying.
FenelonSpoke
July 11th, 2010 @ 7:36 am

Is there some way gg can be blocked? He’s taking up bandwidth in what appears to stream of consciousness writing or mental illness. Very annoying.
Virginia Right! News Hound for 7/11/2010 | Virginia Right!
July 11th, 2010 @ 9:39 am

[…] Who Commits Crime? […]
Grim Sleepers? MSM And Hollywood Shut Eyes To Black Serial Killers | National Policy Institute
July 20th, 2010 @ 2:02 am

[…] [Who Commits Crime?, TheOtherMcCain.com, Posted on | July 10, 2010] […]