I don't think we can totally blame alcohol and/or drugs for this burgeoning street crime. I've locked-up blokes arrested during a 'stink', and while processing them at the station, you hear the chatter amongst themselves, about the blue's they've been in, who's copped a kickin' etc, and who was sent to hospital.

To me, it's sounds more like bragging about the high levels of violence, they've inflicted on their hapless victim ? And these offenders are NOT always affected by booze or drugs.

Often too on the way out to the Bay on 'four wheels' you can frequently hear them boasting about the levels of injury they've occasioned to their victim. The only trouble is, in the retelling all the other crooks of their exploits, they conveniently forget to add, their victim was first 'king hit', before they copped the old 'Julius Marlow' afterwards ?

All this crap is designed to produce this artificial masquerade or depiction of being a 'heavy'. Trouble is for these idiots, they're often tested pretty quickly when they first hit the yards ?

In my humble opinion, a lot of this stuff, is well founded in the psychologically profile of some of these blokes, until they finally end up killing someone !

And the more 'boob' they do, the bigger the illusion they construct for themselves, of being a really dangerous and violent heavy. And the next stupid easily led young punk comes along, and he too tries to emulate this tough bloke by 'king' hitting some boor bugger just minding his own business. So the wheel of violence continues to turn slowly ?

True, alcohol and drugs DO play some part in the equation. But there are many other considerations yet to be examined and evaluated. Even before we as a society, can walk the streets of inner Sydney, in a much greater degree of safety.

Much of it comes down to lack of boundaries.

The offenders are usually young males full of liquor or drugs, who are aware they will not be punished severely for a king-hit.

Society has decided that the cost of king-hits in trauma to victims' self and families is less than the cost of cracking down on aberrant behaviour.

Thus there are few boundaries to this behaviour.

Thus it persists.

If every person who king-hit were sent to gaol for 40 years, it would cease tomorrow.

gg

Welcome back, o sung wu. I hope you're feeling much better. Your spirit seems to have returned in full force :~)

I wonder how many witnesses were present at these king hittings that were powerless to stop the assailants leaving the scene of the crime?

A few people with a 44 hanging off their hips would definitely put a stop to this kind of thuggery, dontcha ya think?. After all the cops can only deal with crim's once the bloke is dead... err I mean the crime has been committed, a bit late then eh?

Welcome to a world where the do-gooders get to sit in their ivory towers watching their 50" plasmas, pontificating on the violence they created all those years ago! Forgetting we've had ample supply of booze since the abolition of prohibition all those years ago.

But lets blame the drugs and booze, anything else is just too hard!

Good evening...

It's interesting that many of you seem to think the punishment doesn't actually fit the crime ? In my opinion there were several pieces of legislation that effectively curbed much of this street violence;

The old 'Police Offences Act', now long repealed;
Followed by the 'Summary Offences Act' also repealed, I think ?
And lastly, the 'Consorting Act' repealed also.

I'll not labour on about the benefits of these pieces of legislation only to tell you all, that they all worked, and worked well, in their own inimitable way !

Why these particular pieces of legislation were repealed, is anybody's guess. Many people blame a succession of Labour governments, for their demise, I don't remember. Nor does it really matter, what do you all think ?

But pause for just one moment if you will and quietly consider...the first Premier, irrespective of their political colours, to reintroduce any of these three pieces of legislation, would immediately rocket straight to the top of the popularity listing. Because it would give police sufficient teeth to target the bullies and thugs that pervade our streets, by day and by night.

GARPAL GUMNUT...thank you for your interesting take on this topic. You suggest forty years of gaol may well be the answer for any of these knuckleheads who decide to wreck havoc on our neighbourhoods, with their unwitting street violence ? I reckon I'd have a long white beard reaching out to our front gate, waiting for a deterrent of that magnitude to occur ? The concept is sound, heavier penalties, though you'd need to convince the judiciary in order to have those sort of penalties introduced ?

RAWMUSTARD...Thank you so much for your very kind words, I really appreciate them. Actually, I don't blame any citizen for failing to render aid to a victim in this litigious climate. Apart from the safety concern, there's a legal perspective too ? It reaches a position where it all gets a little bit too hard ?

Your suggestion of a well slung .44mag may well do the trick, but it may also cause you more trouble then it's worth too ? A comforting thought nevertheless ?

Thank you both, for your thoughtful contribution.

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I don't blame any citizen for failing to render aid to a victim in this litigious climate. Apart from the safety concern, there's a legal perspective too ?
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No, o sung wu. I don't blame them either, for the same reasons you quote. But in years past and you would remember. We citizens had the power and the will to stop these thugs and they were dealt with it swiftly. We've now been reduced to a bunch of blouses watching our friends get slaughtered while do-gooders tell us what's good for us!

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Your suggestion of a well slung .44mag may well do the trick, but it may also cause you more trouble then it's worth too ?
"""
In years past we didn't need guns but we all had them and there were little problems, crime was a lot less. Now we're totally out of control and violent crime is rampant in our streets, our homes and our shopping centers and we're supposed to sit there like sitting ducks totally defenseless while some thug bashes our skulls in or sticks a blade in our ribs so he can post it on the fools tube!

I dunno, o sung wu. I think the way it's going a 44 will be mandatory in a not too distant future. The do-gooders will keep dragging everyone down till it's a complete zombie apocalypse. I don't see any rational discussion or improvements, do you? There's always a smartaleck with an arts degree with an answer to everything, but never has to face the consequence when "it's" wrong!

Every institution we use to trust, government, banks, corporations are all corrupt to the core. Nope, it won't change till a big reset comes, and many more people world wide are seeing it! The do-gooders have lost control and we let them!