If we follow Rob Roy's advice and the apparent intentions of the nearly 400 people who demonstrated in Olympia yesterday following the police shooting of two theft suspects, we will succeed in making Olympia a much safer community in which to steal beer. Is that really what we want as our community standard? Good grief, what's going on in the gray matter between the ears of people like that?

I don't want a community that supports the notion of actions have consequences where the action can be that if you steal beer the consequence is free drinks. I much prefer an action - consequence relationship where if you steal beer (or anything else) you have a reasonable chance of being shot and killed, thereby implementing Darwinian selection favoring people who are smart enough to decide not to steal.

Hank,

Violent crime is down significantly nationwide; however property crime is way up in WA state. I think one likely and highly probable reason for the increase in property crime is that our society has decided to shift its available enforcement resources to violent crime (logical) and away from property crime. That, coupled with society's reluctance to allow citizens to shoot and kill thieves who don't pose a violent threat, creates a condition that practically encourages property crime. The observable results certainly speak to and support that conclusion.

As for the Mexican who was shot by cops in the Tri-Cities a few months ago, the facts of the case are different. Altho the man has a bit of a record, his crime immediately prior to being shot was that of throwing dirt clods at passing cars, and then running from police when ordered to stop. He didn't pose a threat to anyone nor try to assault police officers, so the investigation continues. There's a good chance it wasn't a "clean" shoot.

Sg