Go rob and steal all you want. The cops can’t stop you.
Beginning Tuesday as an attempt to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, Philadelphia police will delay arrests in crimes ranging from narcotics to theft to prostitution, Commissioner Danielle Outlaw informed commanders Tuesday.
Instead, suspects will be temporarily detained while officers can verify their identification. If they are not deemed a threat, they will be released and a warrant will be prepared for a future arrest. A detective will then submit an arrest affidavit to the district attorney’s office for approval.
The crimes will include all narcotics offenses, thefts, burglary, vandalism, prostitution, stolen cars, economic crimes, such as bad checks and fraud, and any existing bench warrants, she said in an internal memo obtained by the Inquirer. “The warrant will be served at a later time, as conditions dictate.”
The memo states: “If an officer believes that releasing the offender would pose a threat to public safety, the officer will notify a supervisor, who will review the totality of the circumstances and utilize discretion, in the interest of public safety, in determining the appropriate course of action.”
Sounds like a plan.
I’m sure that the burglars breaking into your home will then, afterward, happily turn themselves in to be arrested. At the moment, in any case, it’s open season for criminals robbing stores, stealing cars, breaking into homes, and other “non-violent offenses”.
I’m sure this will in no way lead to a crime wave that will make an even more dangerous city even more so.
It will however encourage businesses to shut down and empty their stock. Or get guns. Except that shooting a robber isn’t a non-violent offense, but the same guy breaking into a store is a non-violent offense.
Maybe Escape From New York should have been renamed, Escape From Philadelphia.
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