By Jorie Schuckman
FOCUS St. Louis

For those unfamiliar with it, the broken window theory posits that if small nuisances or crimes (i.e. broken windows) aren’t dealt with, crime will spiral in a neighborhood, getting more and more serious because not enforcing things like breaking windows will show the criminals that the authorities don’t care.

Perhaps the City of St. Louis should do some further reading on the topic.

I wrote last week about how my car had been stolen from the MetroLink lot, and the quick, professional response by the city police.  My car was recovered on Sunday, by an officer near Kingshighway and Natural Bridge who stopped to help some people who appeared to be having issues with their first gear, and then ran the plates on the car.  Three people were in the car on Sunday.  None of them will face any jail time.

My meeting with the circuit attorney’s office on Monday left me with little doubt why parts of the City of St. Louis are struggling with such high crime rates.  The driver of my car claimed that he didn’t know it was stolen, that his girlfriend gave it to him.  So, the circuit attorney says they can’t prove they knew it was stolen, so they can’t prosecute anyone in the car for that.  Fine, I can play the game.  What about possession of stolen property, which doesn’t require intent? No, they don’t prosecute that.  Too much work for too little payoff, or something of the sort.

Letting criminals know that there are certain crimes that they can commit, and even if they are caught, there won’t be any consequences for them is a great way to embolden criminals.  Ever take a quarter out of your mom’s purse when you were little?  Then when she didn’t notice (or say anything), take a dollar the next time?  Not prosecuting the little crimes leaves criminals free to commit bigger crimes.  If they know they can get away with breaking a window, then why not trying breaking a window and stealing a TV next time?  Is this really how we want to run society?

The car, by the way, is a total loss.  The criminals were incapable of driving a standard transmission.