20060706 KDDC Baggy Pants and Crime Prevention

Baggy Pants and Crime Prevention

The July 6^th, 2006 Carroll County Times has a story by Ari Natter, entitled, “Carroll rated Md.'s second-safest county.” This is good news for Carroll countians and it affirms one of the main reasons we like living in Carroll County – overall quality of life.

A big hats off goes to all the various law enforcement agencies in Carroll County that work tirelessly for our safety.

The beginning of the story reads: “Despite a 7.7 percent increase in the county's crime rate last year, Carroll County remains the second-safest county in the state, according to an annual statewide crime report released last month by the FBI. Only Garrett County, with a rate of 1,742.8 victims of crime for every 100,000 people, had a lower crime rate than Carroll, which totaled 1,897.6 victims of crime per 100,000 people.”

For the rest of the story, click here.

But perhaps one thing missing in the story is the untold story - and that is; one thing that continues to work to our advantage is the dynamic that most criminals aren’t very bright.

ABC carried a story on June 20th, 2006 that helps shed some additional light on crime prevention: “Baggy Pants Can Trip Up Criminals, Say Police.”

I kid you not, next time you see some young men attempting to walk in the fashion craze that requires them to wear their pants around their knees – looking, like, totally ridiculous, smile, knowing that the stupid fashion is a great crime-fighting tool.

No word as to whether or not this has contributed to a lower crime rate in Carroll County. But we’re on the trail of this breaking story…

Meanwhile, the ABC story leads-off to say: “Any plumber could tell you droopy drawers tend to trip you up, but apparently a lot of crooks fail to listen. Loose-fitting, baggy jeans have been in fashion for years, but police officers say they can also help fight crime.

"When they run, it makes our job easier," said Jim Matheny, a lieutenant with the Stamford, Conn., police department. The 41-year-old told ABC News he has no trouble chasing down suspects who wear low-hanging pants.

"They go to take off and either they have to use their hands to hold their pants up or several times the pants just fell down around their knees and they had to stop running," Matheny said. "They spend all day thinking of ways to beat the police and then they go and put these pants on. It really handicaps them."

Matheny said that those considering a life of crime might want to take a look at their wardrobes first.

"It's hilarious to me if you think about it," he said. "This is what they do for a living. It's like when the big thing was not tying your shoes and we had kids running out of their shoes."Read the rest of the story here.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.

E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org

####