Bizarre story ...

[ddcanz]

I agree and street justice does work if applied appropriately.

Always have a witness to indicate it was self defence and not have any concerned citizens nearby.

We had a rash of car break-ins over one weekend a years back. Witnesses ID'd the 14 yr old middle schooler who did all the damage. 8 cars with over $20K of damage done in less than 30 minutes. Broken glass, side mirrors and several cars were keyed.

Since we all knew who it was and his parents were concerned for his safety; the RCMP all warned us to have hands off and to go through small claims courts to get our insurance deductibles paid. It would have cost more for lawyers to get our refunds. Not exactly the justice required to make this prick stop the behaviour.

One father indicated his son would deal with it and he did exactly that after school one day. The family of the sociopath put their house up for sale and moved shortly afterwards. They were outed by the whole neighbourhood and needed a fresh start elsewhere.

RCMP made accusations but were unable to get anyone to talk about.

Yep- the old "father gets his son to deal with it" scenario.
I would have brought that up as a suggestion but figured the PC crowd would have gone ape-shit for sure. "How DARE an adult coerce their own child into meting out street justice! The shock of it all!"
That worked quite well when I was growing up- kept a lot of kids on the right path. And usually nothing had to be said from dad to get it done.

 

[clu]

Yep- the old "father gets his son to deal with it" scenario.
I would have brought that up as a suggestion but figured the PC crowd would have gone ape-shit for sure. "How DARE an adult coerce their own child into meting out street justice! The shock of it all!"
That worked quite well when I was growing up- kept a lot of kids on the right path. And usually nothing had to be said from dad to get it done.

There's no PC delicacy behind my objections. It just doesn't make sense: steal coins? Strip 'em naked and trash their parents' house. ("Having car troubles? Try playing the tuba." Makes as much sense.) The guy B&E'ed another person's home. If my kid had stolen money, there'd be a reckoning but I also wouldn't take kindly to some nut job stripping him naked and trashing my house. I'd be calling 911 on the guy and he'd deserve the charges he got. This is what's wrong with vigilante "justice"... it's more about payback and personal satisfaction. Don't pretend it's for their own good. That person would be the last person qualified to offer any lessons on logical actions and consequences.

By all means grab him by the scruff of the neck and drag the kid to my door. I'll get your contact info and I'll be sure they make good on restitution. But these guys crossed the line.

 

[ddcanz]

There's no PC delicacy behind my objections. It just doesn't make sense: steal coins? Strip 'me naked and trash their parents' house. ("Having car troubles? Try playing the tuba." Makes as much sense.) The guy B&E'ed another person's home. If my kid had stolen money, there'd be a reckoning but I also wouldn't take kindly to some nut job stripping him naked and trashing my house. I'd be calling 911 on the guy and he'd deserve the charges he got. This is what's wrong with vigilante "justice"... it's more about payback and personal satisfaction. Don't pretend it's for their own good. That person would be the last person qualified to offer any lessons on logical actions and consequences.

Just to be clear- the PC reference was not directed your way- you don't strike me as being the type.

 

[FreeG]

The problem with street justice is that there's no check and balance limiting it. Street justice didn't help quell the gang wars in NYC in late 1800's nor did it help the gang wars in LA in late 1900's. Each were reduced (albeit not eliminated) by a variety of means, but street justice (citizen to citizen) was never the key to success.

Personally, I say give the parents a first chance to make things right. Assuming the kids' behaviour was a result of poor parenting is an unsubstantiated assumption.