Catching a flower thief

NTV’s “Real Time News” aired a segment yesterday about how the number of people using security cameras for protection of their homes and property is supposedly growing. Included was an example of one man who used a security camera to figure out why his potted plants were disappearing:

After surveillance video reveals the face of the person who stole his plants, people around the neighborhood are asked if they recognize the face in the photo. through this method the thief’s house is located, and when the victim confronts her she denies everything. She insists the person in the video looks like her but is not her, and that she legitimately purchased the potted plant that looks exactly like his missing plant (although she cannot remember where she bought it).

The woman only admits she stole the plant after the police are called and take her away for questioning. Because she apparently showed some remorse for her actions, she was not charged with any crime.

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http://www.hormel.com VonSkippy

I must need new glasses, I couldn’t see a damn thing.
http://www.mutantfrog.com/ Adamu

I really think there needs to be more transparency in the influence that sponsors have on a show’s content. In this case I am wondering if reliable advertiser SECOM or another security company might have had something to do with the segment. They have a vested interest in making people feel insecure and that insecurity is having a very depressing effect on Japanese society.
http://victorymanual.com/ Alex

“Because she apparently showed some remorse for her actions, she was not charged with any crime.”

This is so irritating. Of course people “show remorse” for their actions – They feel regret at having been caught. If she was never caught, she would never have “shown remorse”.
Level3

Ugh, this whole “get off if you show remorse” thing is dangerous to the average law-abiding citizen.

Yes, if you are guilty, it’s very convenient. But I don’t really give a crap about the rights of criminals to avoid prosecution. And Alex is right, the only remorse they feel is the remorse of getting caught. Which makes it even easier to pretend to seem sorry about your evil ways.

The problem is, if you are falsely accused and NOT guilty, then naturally you will have no remorse, and as a result, the police carry it to the next level. After all, the police never make mistakes so if you’re arrested, then you’re obviously guilty, and what’s worse, you don’t even feel remorseful about your “crime”! Go to jail, unless you confess and apologize.
Jason

I’m taking a break from working late to visit Japan Probe. I see this apparent joke about some guy using video to track down a kleptomaniacal neighbor, and I laugh. Once again Japan Probe has brightened an otherwise boring night. Then I look at the comments, and everyone is taking things seriously. This was a joke right? It has to be a joke.

The alternative (that it is not a joke) would mean that the decades of research and competition among scientists and engineers which eventually brought the miracle that is broadcast television to the world is being wasted on *seriously* broadcasting a lengthy, ultra-frosted and voice-disguised report about some guy getting his potted plants stolen and how he tracked down the thief with a hidden camera. That would be sad, right? I’m all for someone getting their stolen stuff back and, if it comes down to it, calling the police, but does it rise to the level requiring a televised report? Aren’t there more pressing stories to be televised?
http://www.mutantfrog.com/ Adamu

Um, stealing plants to decorate your house is the act of a sad neurotic housewife, not anything “dangerous to the average law-abiding citizen.” You could maybe make that case in other instances (in my opinion Komuro Tetsuya should be in jail) and I am sympathetic to your idea of the police demanding confessions and remorse even from innocent people, but this case seems a little different.

He could easily have caught her without the camera, and really the police shouldn’t have to waste their time on something like this. Obviously after getting busted she wont do it again. She should be ashamed but not put in jail.

I think if people start considering technological solutions and police action for every little problem then it only feeds into an attitude of suspicion toward neighbors. Imagine if those people had actually know each other by name to say hi on the street; clearly she wouldn’t try something so insane as to steal her acquaintance’s plants.
http://witzl.blogspot.com/ Mary Witzl

Plant thieving occurs in Scotland too, and in our neighborhood the chief perpetrators were also elderly women…

Wouldn’t it be great if this was the wickedest crime the police had to investigate?
Marcello

The おしりかじり虫 is back, and stealing potted plants!
Blacknimbus

“I think if people start considering technological solutions and police action for every little problem then it only feeds into an attitude of suspicion toward neighbors. Imagine if those people had actually know each other by name to say hi on the street; clearly she wouldn’t try something so insane as to steal her acquaintance’s plants.”

Ah, so it’s the fault of the guy who had his plants stolen. If he had only greeted everyone within a 1 mile radius on a daily basis and NOT installed cameras, he never would have been robbed.

Makes perfect sense.
http://www.mutantfrog.com/ Adamu

I am not saying that it is his fault. Cameras and arrests just seemed a little excessive in this case.

Catching a flower thief

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