A Recipe for Crime

A Recipe For Crime

As much as a cake needs eggs, flour, milk and sugar to be a cake, crime needs

certain ingredients to be a crime. Whenever a crime is committed, all the ingredients must

be present. If we want crime to be eliminated, we must eliminate all the ingredients.

 

A criminal cannot commit a crime unless he has all of the ingredients. Therefore,

before he commits a crime, he must 1) have the thought or desire 2) must get rid of

whatever may stop him 3) be in the right place at the right time with all of the right

equipment.

 

Let’s take a look at each of the ingredients. First is the thought or the desire to

commit a crime. The criminal thinks, I’ve always wanted a corvette, or he feels that he

may even deserve the corvette. Next is getting rid of what may be stopping him. This is

where he shows his ability by overcoming two things: fear and his concern for others.

The last ingredient is the most important one; it is opportunity ingredient. The reason

why opportunity is the most important ingredient is because it’s the only ingredient that

you have any influence over. It is what you will do or don’t do that will provide the

criminal the opportunity he will need to make you or your family a victim.

 

Now all the ingredients to do crime are in place. All he needs to do is start looking. It’s

only a matter of time before one is committed. Once he’s decided to do whatever he

needs to do, to get what he wants, he will then wait. He will wait for that person that

forgot to lock his car, row his windows up, leave a package in plain view or better yet,

the person that ran into the store just to pick up some bread.

 

 

Now that we know all the ingredients of a crime, what do we do? It is my belief

that once we have knowledge of something, it is our responsibility to do something about

it. We can no longer say that we don’t know. Therefore, we need to understand that an

unlocked car becomes a nice ride for a criminal. Leaving something in the back of

pickup truck becomes a ticket for some drug money. A house with no lights on says “no

one is home” becomes an opportunity for a burglary, and even better if the house is

unlocked. A ladder lying next to a house becomes a great way to get to those upstairs

windows. You’ve got the idea.

 

It is our responsibility to make it as difficult as possible for the criminal to choose

our home. Home safety and security should be important to everyone whether you live in

a large city or in a small town. Knowing that your home is protected gives you peace of

mind when you are away or when you are at home. We cannot rely on our public service

employees to provide what is necessary to protect our families and us. There are too

many homes and far too many burglars and thieves out there, therefore the responsibility

is even greater to do everything possible ourselves than to rely on others.

 

When most people think about protecting their homes, they think that they must

purchase some expensive security system. This is always an option for you, but there are

other measures you can take that are far less expensive. This may depend on the type of

neighborhood you live in also.

Look for my next article on starting up a Neighborhood Watch program. Neighborhood

Watch programs are ways that neighbors organize themselves to give the police extra

help watching over their communities. They are the extra eyes and ears in the

neighborhood. The programs are sometimes called Community Watch, Crime Watch, or

Building Watch programs. Whatever you call them in your community, they will serve a

great purpose in reducing crime and the fear of crime in your area