Saturday, October 06, 2018

returning property

have you guys seen this story?

https://boingboing.net/2018/10/04/why-you-should-never-return-lo.html

are you seeing the major flaw with the police position?

they're saying the guys should have turned it in immediately to a nearby BUSINESS.

as if businesses are institutions of safekeeping. as if a subway is not full of people being paid minimum wage who might steal something.

i'm not saying they're inherently dishonest, but seriously? a business is not better guarantee of getting lost property back to a person than any honest citizen.


in the last year i have returned hundreds of dollars worth of things to people who had lost them or even just left them behind in remote parking lots.

that stuff goes in my car until somebody calls to identify it. i am more confident that i will get it back to the proper owner than some random person working in a nearby store.

this story is one where the police have an overconfidence in businesses as entities that are somehow better than citizens. that officer didn't say the man should have turned it in to a police department or government agency. he's saying the man is being charged because he did not turn it in AT A SUBWAY RESTAURANT.

CHARGED.

this is part of an increasing trend to criminalize people for just being people.



1 comment:

Zhoen said...

There are always idiots. Cops are not necessarily sensible people. That one was simply harassing.

Anyway, salvage laws would have come into effect. Finder did due diligence, even though he didn’t have to.

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