Over at Hell In A Handbasket Cautionary Tales: Home Invasions

James suggests key-opening deadbolt locks and I agree. There is nothing that says you can't hang the key near the door either. While this might violate fire codes, it is a good way to prevent people from breaking a window and simply unlocking a door.

Via SayUncle and KDT:

Homeowner fired to protect his wife during invasion

So we have two 19yr old adults, one with a prior criminal history, and one carrying a weapon, put on masks and break into a 70 yr old mans home and he shoots them both.

From all I have read about this it seemed like a bad shoot. Out of all of the options available to the father he made the wrong choice. I agree with his intent to protect his daughters but his methods were poor.

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Has Illinois figured out "smart on crime"?

Throughout American history our penal system has cycled between the concepts of rehabilitation and punishment. These statistics seem to be a little too high, since job training and substance abuse programs have been part of the penal system for quite some time.

I understand the arguments for rehabilitation, but I still question the merits of rewarding bad behavior with expensive perks. Wouldn't those same job training and substance abuse programs be effective for people who didn't have a conviction?

The author echoes some points that I have made in the past. I think he has narrowed his focus to dealing with gang members too much. I think the 'prison martial arts' is mostly an urban legend. Otherwise this is pretty good advice.

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Here is a report of police officers adding charges to traffic tickets after they have been signed. Apparently the best that you can hope for in such a case is to get the ticket dismissed. Incredible.

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I can't see anything wrong with the idea of competing forensic labs. I am not sure how it would be funded, but I think defendents having independent experts looking at the evidence wouldn't be a bad thing.

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I guess they haven't learned that the cameras don't reduce crime. London's experiment has not been successful. This is a $1.8m boondoggle with a service contract. That kind of money buys 36 man/years of increased security guards or police.

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