Why do some crime feel like crime in some places?

[firedragon]

I have a friend of mine living in the UAE (Abu Dhabi) running some grocery businesses because he prefers the lifestyle there. Ironically he contacted me today for a specific purpose and it so happened someone tried to rob one of his outlets last night. Probably around 2 or 3 AM. It was such a shock to him and to everyone else I spoke to about it. Some one broke his cctv camera, entered the front door using some kind of key that actually opened the door, and tried to rob the cash register. Failed.

The thing that came to our minds was that it is such a big deal that someone tried to rob a store that the whole neighbourhood have woken up. All seem to have realised that there is a faint chance they can get robbed too. The police are apparently going all over the place looking for camera footage to trace whoever was walking around at that time to nail the culprits.

Why is this such a big deal? Ultimately the guy didn't even get robbed. All he lost was a camera or two. When you ponder over it, in this city you will never imagine a robbery would take place. Of course crimes do occur but something like this is so rare that it really feels like a crime. I think it is quite similar in Japan or at least in the places that I can trace like in Tokyo and Gunmaken. I don't think people are even bothered closing doors. Also I think in Denmark you have a similar air around the city. Do you really dream you will get robbed?

All of these countries are rich enough to provide this level of safety in my opinion. I mean the developed countries and some rich cities. Why is it that in some developed countries you would not feel safe after 7 PM? Some robbery happened down the street? Ah, thats nothing. No big deal.

 

[Nakosis]

I have a friend of mine living in the UAE (Abu Dhabi) running some grocery businesses because he prefers the lifestyle there. Ironically he contacted me today for a specific purpose and it so happened someone tried to rob one of his outlets last night. Probably around 2 or 3 AM. It was such a shock to him and to everyone else I spoke to about it. Some one broke his cctv camera, entered the front door using some kind of key that actually opened the door, and tried to rob the cash register. Failed.

The thing that came to our minds was that it is such a big deal that someone tried to rob a store that the whole neighbourhood have woken up. All seem to have realised that there is a faint chance they can get robbed too. The police are apparently going all over the place looking for camera footage to trace whoever was walking around at that time to nail the culprits.

Why is this such a big deal? Ultimately the guy didn't even get robbed. All he lost was a camera or two. When you ponder over it, in this city you will never imagine a robbery would take place. Of course crimes do occur but something like this is so rare that it really feels like a crime. I think it is quite similar in Japan or at least in the places that I can trace like in Tokyo and Gunmaken. I don't think people are even bothered closing doors. Also I think in Denmark you have a similar air around the city. Do you really dream you will get robbed?

All of these countries are rich enough to provide this level of safety in my opinion. I mean the developed countries and some rich cities. Why is it that in some developed countries you would not feel safe after 7 PM? Some robbery happened down the street? Ah, thats nothing. No big deal.

Lack of enforcement?
Whether you feel if those committing crimes crimes are swiftly being dealt with.
As in your story "The police are apparently going all over the place looking for camera footage".
The knowledge that if/when crime does happen, the damage will be appropriately mitigated.

 

[firedragon]

Lack of enforcement?
Whether you feel if those committing crimes crimes are swiftly being dealt with.
As in your story "The police are apparently going all over the place looking for camera footage".
The knowledge that if/when crime does happen, the damage will be appropriately mitigated.

Why is it in some of the most developed and rich countries this does not happen? They have all the resources.

 

[Aštra’el]

If you treat the matter like its nothing serious, people are going to exploit that weakness.

Take the enormous rise in shoplifting/ theft/ burglary in California for example. People can just walk in with suitcases and take whatever the hell they want. People don’t do anything about it. Criminals are not so emboldened to do that in my part of the country because they risk serious bodily harm or death, along with whatever punishment they get during and after their arrest.

And it’s well deserved.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

Why is it in some of the most developed and rich countries this does not happen? They have all the resources.

Not enough taxes in the end.

 

[Bodie]

Consider him lucky, in Philadelphia ( I think) recently a woman was raped on a train while other passengers stood by and did nothing, some even pulled out their cell phones and recorded it.

 

[firedragon]

If you treat the matter like its nothing serious, people are going to exploit that weakness.

Take the enormous rise in shoplifting/ theft/ burglary in California for example. People can just walk in with suitcases and take whatever the hell they want. People don’t do anything about it. Criminals are not so emboldened to do that in my part of the country because they risk serious bodily harm or death, along with whatever punishment they get during and after their arrest.

And it’s well deserved.

Why is that?

 

[firedragon]

Not enough taxes in the end.

I doubt it. E.g. Abu Dhabi does not have any other taxes other than a 5% vat on purchases. No taxes on salaries. Nothing.

 

[firedragon]

Consider him lucky, in Philadelphia ( I think) recently a woman was raped on a train while other passengers stood by and did nothing, some even pulled out their cell phones and recorded it.

I heard about this. I couldn't believe it. I am yet to read the article.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

Why is that?

Here is a long answer. It is not my speciality, but the factors that lead to low crime and successful high law enforcement are properly as follows:

A rich enough economy.
The belief in the community and government.
The ability through taxes to ensure that even poor people have a somewhat decent life.
That public servants actually believe that they are that; servants of the public.

 

[exchemist]

I have a friend of mine living in the UAE (Abu Dhabi) running some grocery businesses because he prefers the lifestyle there. Ironically he contacted me today for a specific purpose and it so happened someone tried to rob one of his outlets last night. Probably around 2 or 3 AM. It was such a shock to him and to everyone else I spoke to about it. Some one broke his cctv camera, entered the front door using some kind of key that actually opened the door, and tried to rob the cash register. Failed.

The thing that came to our minds was that it is such a big deal that someone tried to rob a store that the whole neighbourhood have woken up. All seem to have realised that there is a faint chance they can get robbed too. The police are apparently going all over the place looking for camera footage to trace whoever was walking around at that time to nail the culprits.

Why is this such a big deal? Ultimately the guy didn't even get robbed. All he lost was a camera or two. When you ponder over it, in this city you will never imagine a robbery would take place. Of course crimes do occur but something like this is so rare that it really feels like a crime. I think it is quite similar in Japan or at least in the places that I can trace like in Tokyo and Gunmaken. I don't think people are even bothered closing doors. Also I think in Denmark you have a similar air around the city. Do you really dream you will get robbed?

All of these countries are rich enough to provide this level of safety in my opinion. I mean the developed countries and some rich cities. Why is it that in some developed countries you would not feel safe after 7 PM? Some robbery happened down the street? Ah, thats nothing. No big deal.

Rich enough is the point, I think. Abu Dhabi consists almost entirely of expatriates who have chosen to move there to earn more money than they can at home. So almost everyone is doing better for themselves than what they are used to. That would mean the motivation for theft is fairly weak.

Also everyone is on work visas that be cancelled at a moment's notice. The Emirates can simply deport criminals, or people suspected of being criminals, pretty arbitrarily. In this sense the Emirates are a kind of "fake society", in that they don't have much crime and can export any trouble, rather than assuming the responsibility for dealing with it.

Japan and Denmark are different and I am less familiar with them. There I think there is more crime than in the Emirates, but I understand both are relatively equal societies, in which "bling" is frowned upon. So there is not the flaunting of wealth by some that goads the poorer ones into theft.

 

[Nakosis]

Why is it in some of the most developed and rich countries this does not happen? They have all the resources.

Politics and diversity I suspect.
Many groups feel either underrepresented or overly scrutinized/targeted.

Some areas feel very safe. Other areas do not. Some groups are even fearful of the enforcement. In some places there is even a push to reduce enforcement.

Not sure about other countries but in the US there are many cultures all trying to meld common interests. So while we may have the resources we, the US, are not homogenous in our view of how these resources should be used.

 

[Bodie]

I heard about this. I couldn't believe it. I am yet to read the article.

Unfortunately, I can

 

[firedragon]

Rich enough is the point, I think. Abu Dhabi consists almost entirely of expatriates who have chosen to move there to earn more money than they can at home. So almost everyone is doing better for themselves than what they are used to. That would mean the motivation for theft is fairly weak.

Not really. The rich are very rich, while the poor are very poor. There are 168 different nationalities there and people fear getting caught. Its not that they are rich enough to not rob.

Also the Emirates can simply deport criminals, or people suspected of being criminals, pretty arbitrarily. In this sense the Emirates are a kind of "fake society", in that they don't have much crime and can export any trouble, rather than assuming the responsibility for dealing with it.

Its true that they deport criminals. That maybe one of the reasons. But I think saying things like arbitrarily is just speculation. Maybe I should not have brought up Abu Dhabi in the OP. It so happens that this particular incident happened there. I should have just left it as "one country".

Japan and Denmark are different and I am less familiar with them. There I think there is more crime than in the Emirates, but I understand both are relatively equal societies, in which "bling" is frowned upon. So there is not the flaunting of wealth by some that goads the poorer ones into theft.

Bling is frowned upon in Japan? I highly doubt it. They flaunt their riches. Also robberies occur in places where they occur in all kinds of places. In CA there you won't be seen out after 7 in some places. Its taboo. And its empty. The robbers are not really looking for wealth to bling, but to live. In Denmark, Copenhagen, the rich flaunt their riches. They are also human. But generally the population is wealthy or at least easily comfortable. Maybe they dont have a need to rob anyone.

The question still remains. Why dont these super rich countries where crime takes place the way discussed, have this problem? Why? is the question.

 

[sun rise]

Every day here in the USA I can read about a racist incident often a cop abusing a Black person and getting away with it. And it gets so bad that sometimes the black victim of a crime gets attacked by the police.

If I were black, I'd not call the cops because I would not trust the police. I'd expect to be harassed by the cops if they showed up.

And it's not just racism but bigotry in general because we have areas where the government tells teachers they can't mention racism in the class and in one case went so far as to demand that holocaust deniers be given equal treatment when there's a history class on WWII and the holocaust.

That to me is a very big part of the problem in certain areas of the USA.

 

[firedragon]

Politics and diversity I suspect.
Many groups feel either underrepresented or overly scrutinized/targeted.

Some areas feel very safe. Other areas do not. Some groups are even fearful of the enforcement. In some places there is even a push to reduce enforcement.

Not sure about other countries but in the US there are many cultures all trying to meld common interests. So while we may have the resources we, the US, are not homogenous in our view of how these resources should be used.

By "we", who do you mean? Society or the government?

 

[firedragon]

Every day here in the USA I can read about a racist incident often a cop abusing a Black person and getting away with it. And it gets so bad that sometimes the black victim of a crime gets attacked by the police.

Yes. I must admit, this is pretty common in the U.S.

Anyway, I think about 3 people are shot dead every day by the police in the U.S. But the thing is US has the third biggest population in the world, and it had a very recent history of mass slavery which is a divider in black and white skin. It is a unique case and has to be analysed in a completely different way in my opinion.

 

[firedragon]

Unfortunately, I can

What do you mean "I can"? You mean you can believe it?

Haha. I said I couldn't believe it idiomatically.

 

[viole]

I have a friend of mine living in the UAE (Abu Dhabi) running some grocery businesses because he prefers the lifestyle there. Ironically he contacted me today for a specific purpose and it so happened someone tried to rob one of his outlets last night. Probably around 2 or 3 AM. It was such a shock to him and to everyone else I spoke to about it. Some one broke his cctv camera, entered the front door using some kind of key that actually opened the door, and tried to rob the cash register. Failed.

The thing that came to our minds was that it is such a big deal that someone tried to rob a store that the whole neighbourhood have woken up. All seem to have realised that there is a faint chance they can get robbed too. The police are apparently going all over the place looking for camera footage to trace whoever was walking around at that time to nail the culprits.

Why is this such a big deal? Ultimately the guy didn't even get robbed. All he lost was a camera or two. When you ponder over it, in this city you will never imagine a robbery would take place. Of course crimes do occur but something like this is so rare that it really feels like a crime. I think it is quite similar in Japan or at least in the places that I can trace like in Tokyo and Gunmaken. I don't think people are even bothered closing doors. Also I think in Denmark you have a similar air around the city. Do you really dream you will get robbed?

All of these countries are rich enough to provide this level of safety in my opinion. I mean the developed countries and some rich cities. Why is it that in some developed countries you would not feel safe after 7 PM? Some robbery happened down the street? Ah, thats nothing. No big deal.

Why do some crime feels like crime? I don't know, but probably the answer can be found in similar questions, like: why does chocolate taste like chocolate?

Ciao

- viole

 

[viole]

Why is it in some of the most developed and rich countries this does not happen? They have all the resources.

They are secular. The more secular, the safer.

Ciao

- viole