Gun store robbery...is it "profiling" to give this sort of description of perps?

[Manedwolf]

Yes, I'm being sarcastic.  Look at the description of what the perps were wearing. Could that be ANY more stereotype-for-real?  I seriously wonder if some ultra-leftists recently emigrated from MA will write in to complain that it's "profiling".

Hopefully, they'll catch the gangsta slimes. That shop's owner was killed in a hunting accident a few years ago, the people there work really hard. Though I do think they might make themselves more of a target by specializing in Hi-point in the pistol department...

More than 20 handguns, worth about $8,, were stolen in a burglary of a Manchester taxidermy and sports shop early yesterday morning.

A burglar alarm at 1:10 a.m. alerted police to the break-in at Wildlife Taxidermy and Sports Center, 2188 Candia Road at the Massabesic traffic circle.

The burglars, who shattered glass in two doors to enter the store, were captured on video surveillance. Inside, police said several glass display cases were shattered and the guns, of various makes and models. were removed.

Both burglars were described as about 5-foot-8 with thin builds.

One man was masked and wore a black hooded sweatshirt with yellow sections on the front and yellow stripes down the sleeves. He also wore baggy blue jeans with a white circle on the right rear pocket and black boots, gloves and mask. He carried a dark colored backpack.

The other man wore a black South Pole nylon jacket, which police recovered, over a white hooded sweatshirt. He wore black baggy jeans, black shoes with white laces and carried a black duffel bag.

Each also wore baseball caps, also recovered by police. The masked man wore a Rocca Wear cap with a Gold wing design on the front along with a gold "R."

Round stickers on top of the bill of the hat read, "Jay Approved" and "Rocca Wear Fitted Cap size 7."

The other burglar wore a New Era red, black and white Chicago Bulls cap with a "C" on the front, shaped around the image of a bull. An NBA sticker was under the bill.

This is the second time in about 3 years that guns were stolen in a burglary at the sports shop.

On Aug. 27, 2003, the store was burglarized and 19 guns stolen. Police, with the assistance of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, later charged five teenagers with the crime.

I was just there the other day. I'd say the perps got away with about 20 hi-point 45's, 380's, 9mms, and also Rossis and Charter revolvers, since that's what was in the case. And some hi-point carbines hanging out on the floor. HOPEFULLY those won't end up being used in drive-bys.

Yay.

[glockfan.45]

HOPEFULLY those won't end up being used in drive-bys.

They will, that or they will be traded for drugs. My biggest fear about having my guns stolen is that they end up being used in a drive-by. The monetary loss is surpased greatly by the fear of having a cop tell my they recovered my stolen guns only to find out one killed a 6 yo girl that just happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. Thats why I have one hell of a safe.

[The Rabbi]

What point are you trying to make here?

[Manedwolf]

What point are you trying to make here?

Are you looking for an argument? There really isn't one. Just conveying disgust at a local crime, and wondering at the current trend towards labeling truthful labels as "profiling". The sorts who did this fit a certain gangsta stereotype to the letter...but every time police just keep more of an eye on someone who is wearing three Rocawear and NBA hats, badass scowl, bandanna, gold chains and has their pants around their thighs, they get slapped for "profiling". The "if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...etc", idea.

And I'm wondering, really, if the paper will get any letters of complaints from people just for publishing what the criminals really looked like, since it's 'perpetuating a stereotype'. Since I HAVE seen that in the papers from the wierd socialist state to the south.

[Declaration Day]

I have a different word for this whole "profiling" thing.  I call it "being observant".

[HankB]

Lots of detail about the BG's clothing but notice . . .

Both burglars were described as about 5-foot-8 with thin builds.

Based on what appears to have been deliberately left out, I'd be willing to bet they weren't Caucasian, Oriental, or Amerindian.

[Manedwolf]

Lots of detail about the BG's clothing but notice . . .

Both burglars were described as about 5-foot-8 with thin builds.

Based on what appears to have been deliberately left out, I'd be willing to bet they weren't Caucasian, Oriental, or Amerindian.

That's a good point. The article itself was already PC-ized.   

And the Union Leader USED to be such a conservative paper...

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Lots of detail about the BG's clothing but notice . . .

Both burglars were described as about 5-foot-8 with thin builds.

Based on what appears to have been deliberately left out, I'd be willing to bet they weren't Caucasian, Oriental, or Amerindian.

That's a good point. The article itself was already PC-ized.   

And the Union Leader USED to be such a conservative paper...

It isn't necessarily a safe bet that the perps were black.  There are about as many white gangster wannabe types wearing that type of clothing as there are actual black gangsters wearing that clothing.  You don't have to be black to be stupid enough to pull a stunt like this.

I wouldn't run down the newspaper or the article, either.  If the reporters don't know with certainty, they aren't going to jeopardize their careers or their paper by guessing what color skin the dirtbags might have had.  Perhaps the police haven't reported on the suspects' skin color.  Perhaps several of the eye-witnesses aren't sure.  Perhaps several are are sure but are giving conflicting accounts.  Withholding the skin color might be an act of professionalism on the part of the reporters, not PC nonsense.

There's simply isn't enough information presented here.  Maybe it's because of PC asshattery, or maybe it's just a case of the information not being known yet.

[HankB]

Perhaps the police haven't reported on the suspects' skin color.  Perhaps several of the eye-witnesses aren't sure. 

From the original posting:

The burglars, who shattered glass in two doors to enter the store, were captured on video surveillance.

Hard to miss skin color when there's so much detail on the clothing based on the video, even down to a description of the perp's shoelaces.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Just because there is surveillance camera footage (which is b&w and notoriously grainy) doesn't mean that the police are releasing the contents of the tape.  Police like to withhold as much of their evidence as possible.  They usually toss a bone to the media in the form of a few petty details, such as the description of the ball caps, just to get the reporters to stop asking questions.  But in general they like to keep most of their info to themselves.

Until you know that the race of the suspects has been made public, and that the race of the suspects is relevant to the news story, and that the race of the suspects is of a minority that benefits from PC protections (none of which you know, yet) then you can't honestly claim that the newspaper is being disingenuous by withholding a full physical description of the perps.

I note that the story also fails to disclose the hair and eye colors of the perps.  Anyone wanna make the unfounded assumption that the perps had blond hair and blue eyes, and from that baseless and possibly erroneous "fact" conclude that the paper is being racist by trying to downplay the Aryan blood in these suspects?  This line of reasoning makes as much sense as yours based on what we know so far.

[The Rabbi]

Another cigar to the Headless one.

I have seen tons of white boys dress exactly as described.  Notice that one wore a mask.  Makes it hard to ID, no?  And I've seen a few surveillance films with people in baseball caps.  The angle makes it hard to see the face.

[HankB]

And I've seen a few surveillance films with people in baseball caps.  The angle makes it hard to see the face.

Re-read the original story. One of the burglars was masked, but:

The other burglar wore a New Era red, black and white Chicago Bulls cap with a "C" on the front, shaped around the image of a bull. An NBA sticker was under the bill.

If one could see there was an NBA sticker under the bill, then a) the cap probably wasn't being worn backwards; and b) if the underside of the bill was visible, then the face was, too.

And it's not necessarily the newspaper that sits on full descriptions because of PC.

(There's sure a lot of color information and other detail on the perp's clothing from grainy B&W camera images.)

Anyway, maybe it was a couple of white boys, and the cops are just releasing enough info to make us all assume it isn't, to lull the perps into a false sense of security while they close in . . . when/if the perps are caught, we'll see if the cops were being real smart . . . or PC.

[The Rabbi]

Just a ton of supposition on your part, not based on anything.  Maybe they were Black.  Maybe they were white.  Maybe you couldn't tell from the pics.
But the only "profiling" I'm seeing is coming from you.

[Lonestar49]

One man was masked and wore a black hooded sweatshirt with yellow sections on the front and yellow stripes down the sleeves.

Each also wore baseball caps, also recovered by police. The masked man wore a Rocca Wear cap with a Gold wing design on the front along with a gold "R."

 

...

It's just a matter of time before Horatio and his CSI team nails them.. Just saw an episode where they got the suspects DNA off the mask and hair from the hat.

Horatio is my hero, he makes me laugh every episode, in a good way.

Go get'em H..

On a serious note, we too get the news accounts and paper, of such crimes, and worse.  And rarely are we given an actual race description, as to follow the political correct path of modern society and not to upset or stereo type any one- race in our multicultural society.  Makes sense.. not

5'8" dark, lightskined, oh yes, I see him now.


LS

[grislyatoms]

Just because someone is an "ethnic minority" does NOT mean that they are NOT a slimeball dirtbag POS. I see this crap all the time.

"Ohhhhh, you can't screen him just because he's a dark skinned Muslim male with an expired visa."

My response: "Well, it's not elderly Irish-Italian grandmothers flying aircraft into buildings and hiding bombs in their frickin' shoes!"


PC-speak will be the death of this country.

[The Rabbi]

There's a huge difference between airport security and a newspaper article.  Just because someone is a muslim Arab with an expired passport doesnt automatically make him a terrorist either.
Similarly just because someone wears whatever, doesnt make him a black guy.  Nor does it make him a criminal.  I've had plenty of people, both white and black, answering to the description given in my shop.  And some of them were very decent people and good gun customers.

[Manedwolf]

There's a huge difference between airport security and a newspaper article.  Just because someone is a muslim Arab with an expired passport doesnt automatically make him a terrorist either.
Similarly just because someone wears whatever, doesnt make him a black guy.  Nor does it make him a criminal.  I've had plenty of people, both white and black, answering to the description given in my shop.  And some of them were very decent people and good gun customers.

I don't know about you, but I get a bit supicious when a "badass scowling" guy...who may, in fact, even be black...in the gangbanger "uniform", lowered pants, bandanna and multiple caps, oversized jersey, gold teeth, etc...comes into a gun store and even holds a pistol sideways while sighting on it. I've seen that, and it gives me a bad feeling.

I'd feel the same way about a white guy wearing lots of German imagery and SS skull patches and the like, with a shaved head.

It doesn't matter what race someone is. Someone of any race can be clean-cut and look like an upstanding citizen...or they can dress like something that fits the preferred uniform of actual criminals and troublemakers. If they do the latter, they should expect a bit more hassle and suspicion. I have no problem with law enforcement and others keeping more of an eye on people who do that. Arrest without cause, no. Keep an eye on, yes.

A black, white, asian, hispanic, etc..person can wear nice clothes and look respectable to anyone. Likewise, someone of any one of those races can also choose to reflect the culture of a criminal or otherwise undesirable group. I think someone is fully within their rights to profile based on "They look like a gang member.", since that's all to do with attitude and dress, not race.

[The Rabbi]

Ted Bundy got as far as he did by being just such a clean-cut white guy....