Having problems receiving your packages lately? We are already dealing with mass amounts of packages being shipped late and now a new issue seems to bring itself to the forefront.
Photos and videos have showed piles of empty boxes littered alongside rail tracks in Los Angeles County, California have gone viral as shipping companies say they’ve seen a dramatic spike in railroad theft. Some of the boxes are packages from companies like UPS, Amazon and FedEx.
Union Pacific, one of the country’s largest railroad companies, says it may avoid operating in Los Angeles County following the spike in thefts, which it blames on lax prosecution of crimes. The containers and trains are locked, but can be broken into. Union Pacific said last month in a letter to the Los Angeles District Attorney that it saw a 160% year-over-year increase in theft in LA county. The company claims that a December 2020 special directive issued District Attorney George Gascón that changed how low-level offenses are prosecuted has contributed to the uptick.
Union Pacific said in its letter that in the last three months of the year it made over 100 arrests of “active criminals vandalizing our trains” in partnership with the LA police department and Los Angeles Sherriff department. But Union Pacific, which has its own police department with jurisdiction over the 32,000 miles of tracks it owns, said that even as it has expanded its security resources and partnered more closely with local law enforcement, the problem isn’t going away. After being arrested individuals are released from custody within 24 hours, it said.
In my opinion, this seems rather ridiculous. A person should be held liable for their actions and crimes. Stealing people’s purchases is not a petty theft. They should be held accountable and charged for their crime. As the saying goes….’you do the crime, you do the time’.
Crime is associated with increases in poverty, which has increased during the pandemic. The county’s directive was intended to combat social ills that come from misdemeanor convictions, such as difficulties with employment, housing, education, government benefits and immigration.
“Studies show that prosecution of the offenses driving the bulk of misdemeanor cases have minimal, or even negative, long-term impacts on public safety,” Gascón said when the directive was issued. (His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)
“While we understand the well-intended social justice goals of the policy, we need our justice system to support our partnership efforts with local law enforcement, hold these criminals accountable, and most important, help protect our employees and the critical local and national rail network,” Guerrero said.
The Association of American Railroads expressed concern about the crime increase.”In coordination with local law and where necessary federal law enforcement partners, the industry is committed to pursuing all avenues necessary to address this criminal behavior,” spokesman Ted Greener said in a statement.
