The last time I was in Las Vegas, there had been a gang shootout in one of the main intersections on the strip. Not good for tourism. Is there a problem with law enforcement?
On a previous trip to Las Vegas, I was talking to a cab driver that was a life-long resident. He said he was about ready to retire and he was leaving Las Vegas because of the street crime. He felt Las Vegas was a safer city when it was run by the mob. He said there was no street crime then.
This sounds a little crazy until we think about it. The mob ran the casinos and wanted to keep the city safe to attract gamblers. When the mob ran Las Vegas, there was no street crime because punishment was swift and severe. Maybe we can learn something from this. I know I liked Las Vegas a lot better in the early 1970’s than now. Maybe I was just young and more impressionable then.
Our legal system today is certainly not swift and severe. I would recommend you spend some time as a spectator in our courts today. I have and it is quite enlightening. I saw repeat offenders asking for bail when they had one or two prior offenses that had not been tried or plead out yet. I understand why young offenders have no respect for the justice system.
Sometimes felony cases are delayed for years before they actually come to trial. This is ridiculous. Major Hasan committed a terrorist act at Fort Hood, Texas on November 5, 2009. He was convicted of 13 counts of murder and 32 counts of attempted murder and was finally sentenced to death almost four years later on August 28, 2013. That sentence still has not been carried out. Our federal administration called it a work-place incident until recently. There was no swift punishment.
Our courts and prosecutors are swamped with a backlog of cases and paperwork because of this lack of swift and severe punishment. I understand the accused have rights too, but we have to clean up this mess. I agree with rehabilitation, but if all it does in promote future offenses, maybe punishment is a better deterrent.
When we consider crimes committed by our political elite, the picture is even more depressing. Politicians and bureaucrats do not have any fear of punishment. They just cover up the incident until it is forgotten. Prompt punishment is not even a possibility. It takes years to even obtain the facts to start proceedings. In most cases, the offender will be retired and forgotten before any charges are brought.
Partisan politicians from both parties feel pursuing old offenses of politicians and bureaucrats that are no longer in office is not good for their image, so they tend to drop the investigation. Our Department of Justice has become so political that it is a joke. If someone is actually convicted, the sentence is minimal. If a bureaucrat is good at keeping his or her mouth shut and maintaining the cover-up, a pardon is always a possibility on a President or Governor’s last day in office.
We should let the mob run Washington DC for a while. A few politicians and bureaucrats might go missing in the desert. Just joking, but the mob did the job in Las Vegas.
We must make changes in our criminal justice system to insure prompt justice that will deter crime at all levels of our society. If we don’t, street crime will continue to increase and our cities will continue to decline.
Vigilante justice is another result of a slow and ineffective court system. I don’t think most of us want that. The fact that people don’t feel safe is part of the reason for the increase in handgun sales for personal protection.
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