We are facing a problem at present which, if not quickly and decisively dealt with, could produce serious consequences for our entire society. I am speaking of the problem of car theft; it has unfortunately become all too common. Despite this, the police insist that the thefts are isolated individual cases that do not qualify to be described as anything “unusual”.
Would somebody please be so kind as to tell us how many thefts have to take place before it becomes “unusual”? Please volunteer to tell us how long it would take to describe the rising cases of car theft as a phenomenon? The problem is the talk of the town and wherever you go, you hear people discussing one case or another; no street or area seems immune. Can it really be only a matter of a few “isolated” cases?
In my view the problem is even worse since we learn that it is now a well-organized phenomenon involving professional criminals. It is not fair to blame the victims. Surely the police cannot expect that we sleep in our cars or take them into our houses to avoid problems!
What encourages those guilty of these crimes is the lenient punishment meted out to them. Car thieves can simply walk out of the police station after signing an undertaking; they are not required to bear any punishment for having committed a crime nor are they forced to pay for the material and moral damage to the victims. Failure to hand down heavy punishments has encouraged these thefts to continue unchecked.
Everyone is waiting for stricter actions to be adopted, as they believe this will solve the problem. If nothing is done, we may find ourselves No. 1 in the world for both the number of car thefts and the number of traffic accidents. In times like these, we will not be surprised to see a new solution: keeping watchdogs. It does seem that these days, we all need a fierce dog to protect our cars.
