After what happened to the 3

I've worked in small towns as a cop, and small counties as a prosecutor. Percentage wise, they have just as many repugnant people who do vile things as any city in the country. For good measure, many of the potential victims buy in to the folklore and are staggeringly complacent. Mayberry never existed.
 
I've worked in small towns as a cop, and small counties as a prosecutor. Percentage wise, they have just as many repugnant people who do vile things as any city in the country. For good measure, many of the potential victims buy in to the folklore and are staggeringly complacent. Mayberry never existed.

"It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." Sherlock Holmes
 
I used to spend lots of time in the woods without a care...never had a gun back then and I always felt at home out in the woods.

Looking back now, little older and hopefully wiser, I was foolish.
 
I've worked in small towns as a cop, and small counties as a prosecutor. Percentage wise, they have just as many repugnant people who do vile things as any city in the country. For good measure, many of the potential victims buy in to the folklore and are staggeringly complacent. Mayberry never existed.

Nice reference :)... I carry everyday except at work and a 10mm is my usual nature gun. Not for sure if being armed would have helped since the s***bags had no hesitation in pulling the trigger. Even when armed if someone pulls a gun on you and they have no concern in pulling the trigger you are deep in doodooville. The willingness to act by an individual goes a long way in determining the outcome whether it be positive or negative.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LCC
The easiest way to defeat anyone is to ambush the victim(s). A sneak attack on someone who believes they are not combatants.

PS Still doubtful any of these guys had the murderers truck engine. If someone owes you something, murdering them will not get it back for you.
 
Ah, 'fair and balanced' 230 felony arrest nonsense. Here's local reporting with less hype. Alleged gunman in Frostproof murders has long rap sheet - News - The Ledger - Lakeland, FL



So, the 230 felony arrest story was nonsense. I guess I'm not getting your point. Are you complaining the news media isn't always accurate? There's a surprise.

Even though he didn't have 230 felony arrests, according to the story you linked, I'm not sure how his real criminal history is any better than the exaggerated version.
 
I've worked in small towns as a cop, and small counties as a prosecutor. Percentage wise, they have just as many repugnant people who do vile things as any city in the country. For good measure, many of the potential victims buy in to the folklore and are staggeringly complacent. Mayberry never existed.

Back when I used to travel to small towns for work, the two most dangerous towns I went to (statistically anyway) were Norfolk, NE and Fort Dodge, IA. Each had populations around 20K. At the time both had per capita violent crime rates way, way higher than most large cities. Similarly, I saw a "concealed carry" interview with a woman engineer that worked for an oil company. The place that concerned her the most was Williston, ND, not Dallas or OKC.
 
I used to spend lots of time in the woods without a care...never had a gun back then and I always felt at home out in the woods.

Looking back now, little older and hopefully wiser, I was foolish.
Me too ... BUT the difference back then was convicted murderer's were actually executed . If you don't think the electric chair or gas chamber deters crime ... think again .
A life on easy street with free everything ...from clothes to food to medical and dental care and you don't have to work a lick ....
doesn't sound like any deterrent to crime ... Sounds like Easy Street .
Bleeding heart liberals whine about the death penalty but I bet none have had a child murdered by a career criminal .
Gary
 
Lots of People go to Law School with hopes of becoming an Attorney.... The reality is, if they pass the Bar... with few jobs available ,they either they go to the State Attorneys Office or Public Defenders Office ,where they start out with Traffic, than advance to Misdemeanors, and when somewhat competent, Felony cases... with Speedy Trial, the case charged has to be brought within 6 months, so theres ALOT of plea bargaining going on... Burglary pled down to Trespass, Murder 1 or 2 pled to Manslaughter, etc....In the end, it doesn't matter who's right or wrong.... It's who has the BEST (Competent) attorney that wins in Court.

Thats why you see People with multiple charges and few convictions....
 
I don't know... sounds like either made up or they have never been prosecuted and he was never convicted. The max I have seen is 9 former felonies and at the trial of his 10th felony he was convicted to life in prison.

Today, not unusual for felons to serve little or no time. Municipalities dont want to arrest & inprison, it costs a lot of $$$.
 
Back when I used to travel to small towns for work, the two most dangerous towns I went to (statistically anyway) were Norfolk, NE and Fort Dodge, IA. Each had populations around 20K. At the time both had per capita violent crime rates way, way higher than most large cities. Similarly, I saw a "concealed carry" interview with a woman engineer that worked for an oil company. The place that concerned her the most was Williston, ND, not Dallas or OKC.

Per capita numbers, like %, always need to be viewed in context. A city has 1 murder in 2019 & 3 in 2020, 200% increase. Sounds scary but context, only 2 more than previous year. Same for per capita stats. I would feel safer in a town of 5000 with one murder vs city of 500,000 & 100. Per capita is the same but doesnt tell the whole story.
 
..../

..../ 230 felonies presents a problem or two. The first is, how did he get tied to so many without real consequences? Were the investigations substandard? Did the prosecutors do some stupid stuff? I find it hard to believe that someone can have that kind of indications of being a bad actor without being in custody for very long time.

Well...I've just watched a sheriff present the entire case to the press - including a great deal of speculation on his part - in the middle of an on-going investigation where none of the suspects have confessed or plead guilty. Worse he adds personal opinion and inflames public opinion with statements like this:

"He needs to receive a fair trial, the appropriate appeals, and THEN BE EXECUTED."

I get why politicians - and he is clearly politicking - like hims are popular and near unbeatable in their jurisdictions. But the sad reality is that they are a lot less effective because they can can't keep their mouth shut and start spewing what they are thinking.

Yes, most officers in similar situations would be thinking the same thing, but most officers would be professional enough not to say it out loud and not poison the well and make it harder to get a conviction.

The prosecutor's office will have a hard time finding an impartial jury after that hot mess of a press conference and any trial that might occur, won't occur anywhere near there.

Worse, both the defense attorneys and the prosecutor's office know the effects that irresponsible trying of the case in the court of public opinion, has on the ability to get a fair trial, and that has a profound effect on the eventual plea agreements, as the prosecutor ends up taking what he can get to avoid a trial.

Conduct like that is how you get 230 charges and just 15 convictions. It'll also be the major reason TJ Wiggins won't get the death penalty.
 
Back when I used to travel to small towns for work, the two most dangerous towns I went to (statistically anyway) were Norfolk, NE and Fort Dodge, IA. Each had populations around 20K. At the time both had per capita violent crime rates way, way higher than most large cities. Similarly, I saw a "concealed carry" interview with a woman engineer that worked for an oil company. The place that concerned her the most was Williston, ND, not Dallas or OKC.

I used to commute to DC for a couple days every other week. I'd park in Rocky Mount NC and take the train to DC. People comment how unsafe DC is and how high the murder rate is. The Murder rate in DC is in the 21-23 per 100,000 range on average year to year. In Rocky Mount the murder rate is in the 24-28 per 100,000 range on average year to year. On average, the murder rate there is about 45% higher than the national average, and the violent crime rate is upwards of 100% over the national average (and those national averages are driven by large metropolitan areas).

A big contributor to those high rates in Rock Mount is the fact that it has the highest poverty rate of any metropolitan area in NC. Poverty breeds crime and interpersonal conflict almost as well as population density.


Per capita numbers, like %, always need to be viewed in context. A city has 1 murder in 2019 & 3 in 2020, 200% increase. Sounds scary but context, only 2 more than previous year. Same for per capita stats. I would feel safer in a town of 5000 with one murder vs city of 500,000 & 100. Per capita is the same but doesnt tell the whole story.

Using the Rocky Mount example above, the population there is roughly 54,000 people, so when you talk about a rate of 27 per 100,000 people, you are only talking about 15 homicides per year.

However, that is still a lot of homicides for a community of 55,000 people.

There are however statistical problems with low "N" data. Take Bath NC for example. There are about 268 people there, and murder is a rare event. There's been one in the 12 years i've been here. So it's 11 years of "0 per 100,000" and one year of "373 per 100,000". Bath really wasn't any more dangerous that year, despite the statistics.
 
"Down by the river" is one of the most hazardous places I go. For me it's the Mississippi, not far from St. Louis. Things are generally peaceful there, but sometimes cars-full of people come up from the city to get high and party. I left one remote parking lot because it got full of loud people, hanging out.
 
Back
Top