Slog
News & ArtsWednesday, October 28, 2009
Crime Police Beat: The Translation Problem
Posted by Charles Mudede on Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 11:53 AM
On Oct 20, 2009, Officer Richard K. Jackson filed this report about an incident that happened in the Pike Place Market:
[I recieved] complaint of a B/M [black male] trying to sell metered parking tickets to lot customers for cash, after purchasing tickets with a stolen credit card. [Complaintant had] approached the suspect, identified himself as security and grabbed his shoulder to detain him. The suspect turned and struck C in the face with his elbow. C attempted to get control of the S, and both fell to the ground. The S rose up, and C grabbed S's leg to prevent his escape. The S kneed C on the right side of the face. C was assisted by a witness, who had seen C assaulted by the S. S was held on the ground by C and W until police arrived.The problem animals have with energy is similar to the problem thieves have with money. With the animal, the problem is always the translation of energy: how can energy over there be translated into energy in it? With the thief, the problem is the translation of money: how can money in a credit card be translated into hard cash? Thieves hate plastic.
4
@ 1 agreed.
Stupid thieves may hate plastic, but a pro would have bought luxury goods he could have then fenced on Craigslist, eBay, or other channels. He could have also used it to buy groceries, or other items he needs but doesn't want to spend his cash on. The shortfalls of the US Education systems certainly contributed to this thief's lack of imagination on how to leverage stolen credit cards.
Stupid thieves may hate plastic, but a pro would have bought luxury goods he could have then fenced on Craigslist, eBay, or other channels. He could have also used it to buy groceries, or other items he needs but doesn't want to spend his cash on. The shortfalls of the US Education systems certainly contributed to this thief's lack of imagination on how to leverage stolen credit cards.
5
@4, it's safer for the their to use the card on a parking machine than at grocery store. recall, he is a black man.
8
@5:
Hey there 19th Century Man - in the 21st century, black people are allowed to use credit cards.
Hey there 19th Century Man - in the 21st century, black people are allowed to use credit cards.
9
You probably don't even realize how good you can feel if you stop turning every little thing into a race treatise.
You *think* you feel good now -- just imagine!
You *think* you feel good now -- just imagine!
11
Maybe the name on the card is a woman's. That certainly would get his ass caught in a real store.
12
Some general comments:
This sentence didn't parse clearly when read: "how can energy over there be translated into energy in it?" What is the it? On additionals reading, it is "the animal", but even that is not entirely clear.
The point about thieves hating plastic is not accurate. It wholly depends on the type of thief. Credit cards can be gamed quite effectively. There was a story in the New Yorker about 2.5 years ago about a British kid who socially engineered corporate credit cards to his favor, zipped around the world, and stayed in 5 star hotels in Dubai. Buying drinks for the entire bar, and flitting out on First Class tickets whenever he felt the need. It took serious and dedicated police effort to get him, and he was only nabbed when he finally got careless.
That said, cash is a part of a very important and anonymous economy. No trace is left when you operate with cash. So low-level thieves prefer cash, of course.
That said, there is a "race" difference in crime styles here. Its an issue of who has access to what. White people are the majority population in banking culture and therefore have access to the cultural skill necessary to play that game. They can make phone calls and socially engineer people into giving up passwords and security codes. (The most costly hacking attack was done via social engineering methods, not programming skills.) More whites are in "white collar" jobs, and therefore the percentage of whites doing this sort of crime is greater.
Blacks, having been disenfranchised from the get-go on this continent, have less access --on the whole-- to banking/credit card culture and the details of how to game those rules, and as such tend towards physical property/cash situations when crime is pursued.
Translating credit cards into cash (or property or value or buying the entire bar a drink)... is an issue of culture.
America is still amazingly racist. Despite popular belief that black and white are somehow equal. With the election of Obama a major page has been turned, and in time we will see the effects of having a black president. But it will take time.
I am one who believes that "race" does not actually exist in real terms. There is no such thing as "race". It is only an fabricated demarcation based on skin color and cultural norms in order to divide and subjugat the population of a so-called "nation".
A translation problem indeed.
More...
This sentence didn't parse clearly when read: "how can energy over there be translated into energy in it?" What is the it? On additionals reading, it is "the animal", but even that is not entirely clear.
The point about thieves hating plastic is not accurate. It wholly depends on the type of thief. Credit cards can be gamed quite effectively. There was a story in the New Yorker about 2.5 years ago about a British kid who socially engineered corporate credit cards to his favor, zipped around the world, and stayed in 5 star hotels in Dubai. Buying drinks for the entire bar, and flitting out on First Class tickets whenever he felt the need. It took serious and dedicated police effort to get him, and he was only nabbed when he finally got careless.
That said, cash is a part of a very important and anonymous economy. No trace is left when you operate with cash. So low-level thieves prefer cash, of course.
That said, there is a "race" difference in crime styles here. Its an issue of who has access to what. White people are the majority population in banking culture and therefore have access to the cultural skill necessary to play that game. They can make phone calls and socially engineer people into giving up passwords and security codes. (The most costly hacking attack was done via social engineering methods, not programming skills.) More whites are in "white collar" jobs, and therefore the percentage of whites doing this sort of crime is greater.
Blacks, having been disenfranchised from the get-go on this continent, have less access --on the whole-- to banking/credit card culture and the details of how to game those rules, and as such tend towards physical property/cash situations when crime is pursued.
Translating credit cards into cash (or property or value or buying the entire bar a drink)... is an issue of culture.
America is still amazingly racist. Despite popular belief that black and white are somehow equal. With the election of Obama a major page has been turned, and in time we will see the effects of having a black president. But it will take time.
I am one who believes that "race" does not actually exist in real terms. There is no such thing as "race". It is only an fabricated demarcation based on skin color and cultural norms in order to divide and subjugat the population of a so-called "nation".
A translation problem indeed.
14
A man recently offered to buy me a parking ticket with his credit card, in exchange for cash. I couldn't figure out what the benefit would be for him. Now I know!
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
Hating People Doesn't Make Them Thinner by Jen Graves
-
Los Angeles Gay Bar Bans Bachelorette Parties Until Marriage Equality Is Attained by David Schmader
-
Fill in the Blank by Grant Brissey
-
This Reminds Me of the Great Calculator Scare of the Late '70s/Early '80s by David Schmader
-
Idiot Tries to Defend Bigoted Anti-Gay-Marriage Preacher on Anderson Cooper by Paul Constant
-
Six Moms with Too Much Time on Their Hands and a Shitty Website Decide to Fight Gay Superheroes by Paul Constant
-
Why Mayor McGinn's Wife Canceled Her Family's Seattle Times Subscription by Eli Sanders
-
What the Hell Is Wrong With Seattle's Pride Parade? by Dominic Holden
-
The Saturday Morning News by Unpaid Intern
-
NYC Man Ticketed for Not Riding in the Bike Lane by Jonathan Golob
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (14) RSS