Yeah, Glad To See Prison Works In Rehabilitating People

[NJCardFan]

Paterson police officer shoots, kills carjacking suspect

A city police officer on Wednesday fatally shot a man driving a car that was stolen in a violent carjacking hours earlier at Passaic County Community College, a prosecutor said.

Police had been looking for the car after someone beat up a 56-year-old adjunct professor in the teacher’s lot of the community college about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. An officer, who police refused to identify, spotted the beige 2006 Nissan Altima just after 3:30 a.m. Wednesday and stopped it near Governor and East 18th streets, said Chief Assistant Prosecutor John F. Latoracca.

The driver of the Altima pulled over but started trying to drive past the officer’s police cruiser once he started approaching the car. The driver eventually stopped, Latoracca said.

“It appears the guy was resigned to be arrested and gives up,” he said.

The officer walked to the passenger side window, and the driver put the car in gear again. The officer feared the car was about to run him over, and fired his gun several times, Latoracca said.

The driver, who appeared to be hit multiple times, was pronounced dead on the scene. Prosecutors identified the man as Lewis Baker, 38. http://www.northjersey.com/news/crim..._shooting.html
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Now this might seem like another scumbag killed in the commission of a crime story but for me it hits home a bit. As you all know I'm a corrections officer and up until last July, I had a permanent housing unit and it was the drug rehabilitation program. Well, this was one of my inmates. Never a trouble maker, never got written up, and seemed to take the program seriously. Gets released and less than a month later he's smoking crack again, jacks a car, and gets himself killed. Seems that this corrections program and drug program worked wonders.

[Rockntractor]

Paterson police officer shoots, kills carjacking suspect

A city police officer on Wednesday fatally shot a man driving a car that was stolen in a violent carjacking hours earlier at Passaic County Community College, a prosecutor said.

Police had been looking for the car after someone beat up a 56-year-old adjunct professor in the teacher’s lot of the community college about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. An officer, who police refused to identify, spotted the beige 2006 Nissan Altima just after 3:30 a.m. Wednesday and stopped it near Governor and East 18th streets, said Chief Assistant Prosecutor John F. Latoracca.

The driver of the Altima pulled over but started trying to drive past the officer’s police cruiser once he started approaching the car. The driver eventually stopped, Latoracca said.

“It appears the guy was resigned to be arrested and gives up,” he said.

The officer walked to the passenger side window, and the driver put the car in gear again. The officer feared the car was about to run him over, and fired his gun several times, Latoracca said.

The driver, who appeared to be hit multiple times, was pronounced dead on the scene. Prosecutors identified the man as Lewis Baker, 38. http://www.northjersey.com/news/crim..._shooting.html
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Now this might seem like another scumbag killed in the commission of a crime story but for me it hits home a bit. As you all know I'm a corrections officer and up until last July, I had a permanent housing unit and it was the drug rehabilitation program. Well, this was one of my inmates. Never a trouble maker, never got written up, and seemed to take the program seriously. Gets released and less than a month later he's smoking crack again, jacks a car, and gets himself killed. Seems that this corrections program and drug program worked wonders.

The 9mm pistol cured him.

[Novaheart]

Gets released and less than a month later he's smoking crack again, jacks a car, and gets himself killed. Seems that this corrections program and drug program worked wonders.

It doesn't seem to do much good to make a disclaimer around here, but I'm not going to surrender hope that people will actually read what is written.

Disclaimer: I'm not making excuses for this man, merely exploring the subject.

There really must be some significant differences in the way that crack and meth affect judgement compared to powdered cocaine and some other drugs.

I see young guys with good , great addresses in the arrest reports for stupid stuff. Burglary, false ownership to a pawn broker, bad checks, theft, and various other crimes which all point to crack or meth. I don't get it.

Crack and meth seem to have some special hold on people. I have known plenty of people who crashed and burned snorting cocaine. Some of them quit when they ran out of money. Others quit when they owed every body and his brother money. Still others quit when they were "borrowing" money or otherwise getting money from people which they could not put back. But none of the robbed a bank, or a corner store, or carjacked anyone, or killed anybody for a wallet or a "fix". In fact, most of them were mocking the very notion of addiction right to the very end.

And now I have a friend who I can no longer be a friend to. He's even stopped calling. He was once something of a socialite, and when I moved here he introduced me to some of the best people. And then he started using crack and meth and went down hill so fast you could almost hear the wind whipping past his reputation. He borrowed money from everyone, including me. I lent him money to prove that I had faith in him. And then he embezzled a sizable chunk of cash from a company, which he also used for drugs. He had to leave town. I had to tell him that I couldn't do anything else for him. I'm not used to having to be so harsh. I come from a world where friends are supposed to be there, no matter what. But how can you be there for someone who is on self destruct and is perfectly willing to take you with him?

I couldn't let him live here because I might wake up and find my car gone, or people in the house, or cigarettes starting fires, or a thousand things of crazy that alcoholics (did I mention he was also an alcoholic? ) and addicts do.

And the other day, I find out that when he left the state he stopped making restitution payments, so now he's technically a wanted man.

I support the legalization of drugs, but drunks and druggies piss me off.

[NJCardFan]

What you don't get is that for the better part of 3 1/2 years, I would watch these inmates stand up in their groups and talk to others about beating the addiction and not wanting to do that stuff anymore. This guy wasn't out a month before he regressed and committed another violent crime.

[Novaheart]

What you don't get is that for the better part of 3 1/2 years, I would watch these inmates stand up in their groups and talk to others about beating the addiction and not wanting to do that stuff anymore. This guy wasn't out a month before he regressed and committed another violent crime.

I knew a merchant marine in SF who was in rehab for 30 days, said he felt better than he had in years, and three days after leaving the rehab he was dead.

Over the years I have come to the conclusion that some people have little or no alarm system or survival response. I've also come to believe that for many, drugs/alcohol is simple a slow form of suicide.

[txradioguy]

What you don't get is that for the better part of 3 1/2 years, I would watch these inmates stand up in their groups and talk to others about beating the addiction and not wanting to do that stuff anymore. This guy wasn't out a month before he regressed and committed another violent crime.

Sounds like he was just biding his time and playing by the rules until he could get out and continue his bad habits.

[KhrushchevsShoe]

They act like they've been rehabilitated because they have been rehabilitated. Expect its in a controlled environment like prison.

They get out and they dont have a job because they are a felon, the crack dealer is right there and a couple weeks later they're back doing what they did before. Its a bad situation because I fully sympathize with employers discriminating against people who've served time in prison, but at the same time there needs to be a better path for these guys once they get out of jail.

Parole is somewhat of a joke I know, but I would like to see the numbers on 2nd convictions between those who were weaned off prison life via parole and those who were just released back into the world. Perhaps more sentencing that involves mandatory parole and less time behind bars? Even from the money perspective its cheaper the just keep a close eye on someone than it is to provide them shelter and food, plus it helps our overcrowding situation.

[txradioguy]

They act like they've been rehabilitated because they have been rehabilitated. Expect its in a controlled environment like prison.

They get out and they dont have a job because they are a felon, the crack dealer is right there and a couple weeks later they're back doing what they did before. Its a bad situation because I fully sympathize with employers discriminating against people who've served time in prison, but at the same time there needs to be a better path for these guys once they get out of jail.

Parole is somewhat of a joke I know, but I would like to see the numbers on 2nd convictions between those who were weaned off prison life via parole and those who were just released back into the world. Perhaps more sentencing that involves mandatory parole and less time behind bars? Even from the money perspective its cheaper the just keep a close eye on someone than it is to provide them shelter and food, plus it helps our overcrowding situation.

Riight because being kindler and gentler to people who have raped and murdered or beat someone up for $10 to get a fix will make them a better citizen.

[KhrushchevsShoe]

Riight because being kindler and gentler to people who have raped and murdered or beat someone up for $10 to get a fix will make them a better citizen.

People who rape and murder aren't really the chief concern here, they are typically locked up for a long time. Its people who've committed some of the lesser but still severe crimes.

[Starbuck]

The "Addictive Personality" is not one of the eight personality disorders usually listed, but I believe it exists. Addictive personalities will quickly seize upon whatever gives them a rush; whether it is leading the charge to 'recover', or hijacking a car, or smoking crack, or gambling, or taking the risk of starting a business, or cheating on your spouse.

How predisposed to addiction are you?
http://www.menshealth.com/cda/quiz.d...00cfe793cd____