HTP - The Cutting Room Floor

The Heat is On

I am sure that everyone has thought about stealing a car at some point. No matter what you are planning, a stolen car adds that special touch. Anonymous, convenient and disposable, the stolen car has a lot of things going for it. The main drawback to this method of transportation is the fact that it is illegal. While car theft has always been illegal, a new program instituted by the Peel Police will see a much greater emphasise placed on the enforcement of car theft laws. This new program, know as HEAT, will be implemented in two stages. The first stage will deal with prevention, which I am sure you are all now aware of. The second stage will be a crack down on actual car thieves.

The Peel Police have assembled a special team to deal with the car theft problem, but they will face a daunting task. The very nature of car theft makes devising a strategy against it difficult. There are a large number of cars waiting to be stolen, and only a limited number of police officers available. The strategy which has been devised to work around this problem is clever, though somewhat dubious. For those of you unfamiliar with the strategy, I will recap it now. An expensive car will be placed outside a location frequented by teenagers. This car will have its windows rolled down, essentially saying "Hey, somebody steal me." When a would-be thief enters the car, the windows will roll up and the doors will lock. Police will then be able to arrest the perpetrator at their leisure. While this strategy will certainly generate arrests, I questions its value in dealing with the problem. I doubt that a hardened car thief, the sort of person the police are really after, would fall for such an obvious trap. Most of those caught will most certainly be inexperience, casual thieves. In this situation, the Police are essentially encouraging teenagers to attempt car theft as a way of generating arrests. This is a textbook case of what is know in legal terms as entrapment. Entrapment is generally frowned on as a method of arrest, but in this case the legal system has decided that it is an acceptable solution to what is perceived as a major problem.

This entrapment issue presents a alarming precedent. The are clear ethical reasons why entrapment is discouraged. Arresting someone who has committed a criminal act within an artificial situation is very risky. There is always the danger of border-line criminals pushed into committing a criminal act by the police. Entrapment is certainly a very powerful tool, but it is also a very dangerous one.

Why we didn't print it: Adam Reid thought it sucked.