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Recent assault teaches many lessons
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An assault in Austin’s Zilker Park provides a “teachable moment” on how to make society safer.
On June 13, a man was walking home through Zilker Park, when two young men ran up behind him and began beating him with metal baseball bats. The victim attempted to give the assailants his wallet and money, but they ignored his offer and continued beating him until a passing motorist intervened. When interviewed, this witness said the victim still had his wallet in one hand and a bloody $20 bill in the other.
Recently, KVUE interviewed the victim in hopes that publicity will help solve the crime.
According to “Bat2face” (purportedly the victim) in the comments section, the Austin Police Department (APD) didn’t issue a press release until very recently, and KVUE picked it up “as soon as they did a press release.”
The press release date is August 7, 2009, and the KVUE article is August 11.
As some of the comments insinuate, the police may get blamed for not doing enough, or for lax enforcement emboldening this type of behavior. This only proves the writers’ ignorance. As explained in a previous article, the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that police are not obligated to stop crime.
In an interview, Sergeant Stresing of APD explained why this press release occurred seven weeks after the incident: APD had been following leads that had all hit dead ends. This press release is an attempt to generate new leads.
As with any business, APD apportions resources where they do the most good. Had this case become part of a series of “joy-riding” aggravated assaults, police public outreach and manpower allocations would have stepped up rapidly. Since this is an isolated incident, robbery detectives have to prioritize it along with the rest of their caseload. This doesn’t mean they don’t care.
Sergeant Stresing also explained that publishing press releases too often can result in a “boy who cried wolf” syndrome: Too many press releases cause people to pay less and less attention, which results in a drop in the desired public response. Again, they have to apply this resource in a manner that produces the most results.
According to FBI and U.S. Department of Justice research, for every 1,000 aggravated assaults, the perpetrator has better than two-thirds chance of getting away without being arrested, and only a 10% chance of going to prison for his offense.*
In 2007, right-to-carry states (where law-abiding citizens can carry concealed handguns in public) averaged 12.2% lower aggravated assault rates, 38.6% lower murder rates, and 30.9% lower violent crime rates than states which restrict your right of self-defense.**
Bottom line: Personal responsibility is the best policy.
* Spreadsheets compiled from FBI and Department of Justice arrest/conviction data, available upon request.
** Spreadsheet compiled from FBI violent crime data, available upon request.
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For in-depth analysis of the issues discussed here, read Howard’s book Four Hundred Years of Gun Control: Why Isn’t It Working?, which deconstructs the gun control agenda and motivates more people to support our civil right of self-defense. Autographed copies are available from the author, and an e-book version is available from the publisher.
Atlanta: Ed Stone | Austin: Howard Nemerov | Boston: Ron Bokleman | Charlotte: Paul Valone | Chicago: Don Gwinn | Cleveland: Daniel White | DC: Mike Stollenwerk | Denver: Dan Bidstrup | Grand Rapids: Skip Coryel | Los Angeles: John Longenecker | Minneapolis: John Pierce | National: David Codrea | Seattle: Dave Workman | St. Louis: Kurt Hofmann | Wisconsin: Gene German
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