Danish government wants double punishments for crimes in underprivileged areas

[Player Twelve]

https://www.thelocal.dk/20180226/dan...ivileged-areas

Vandalism, theft and threatening behaviour will be punished more severely in areas defined as 'special punishment zones', according to a new plan to be set out by the Danish government.
Double punishments for certain types of offence committed in underprivileged areas defined as 'ghettos' will form part of a programme of measures aimed at the marginalised zones, Justice Minister Søren Pape Poulsen told newspaper Berlingske.

They exact types of crime to be subjected to the harsher punishments is yet to be confirmed, but will be defined as part of the parliamentary process to establish the new measures, according to the report.

The government will not decide which areas are to be subject to 'double punishment' for the crimes in question.

This will be left under the jurisdiction of police chiefs locally, Berlingske reports.

But Poulsen told the newspaper that forms of criminality that contributed to 'parallel societies' would be targeted by the measure.

"Vandalism, theft or threats could be the reason [for stricter punishments]. That means the hammer will fall extra hard in those areas," he said.

Parliamentary ally the Danish People's Party said it would not comment on the report before seeing the proposal in its entirety.

But opposition Social Democrat spokesperson Trine Bramsen told Berlingske that her party considered the measure of targeting specified areas with harsher punishments "sensible".

A concerted effort to reduce crime and social inequality in Denmark's underprivileged areas was announced by Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen in his traditional New Year's speech.

But the measure could represent a gamble with rule of law in the Scandinavian country, said Birgitte Arent Eiriksson, legal advisor with thinktank Justitia.

"Where there is rule of law, it is very, very important that everyone is equal before the law. But I find it difficult to see how that could be the case with this proposal," she said.

Additional sources: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...s-ghettos.html
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel...rtikel=6894478
https://www.svt.se/nyheter/utrikes/d...traff-i-getton

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Would this be effective to crackdown on crime in those areas or do you think it's not going to solve anything?

[Deleted]

Shoot every marauder on the streets.

Keep doing it until they realize that Malmö isn't in the middle of the Sahara, or some other low resource shithole full of low resource shitholes committed to living a life of violence, robbery and extortion.

Then you keep doing it for the next fifteen years and decide you need to burn the fucking stains off. Because they won't come off any other way.

infracted - trolling

[Player Twelve]

Shoot every marauder on the streets.

Keep doing it until they realize that Malmö isn't in the middle of the Sahara, or some other low resource shithole full of low resource shitholes committed to living a life of violence, robbery and extortion.

Then you keep doing it for the next fifteen years and decide you need to burn the fucking stains off. Because they won't come off any other way.

Malmö is in Sweden, not Denmark.

[Doctor Amadeus]

Who knows maybe it will work.

[Deleted]

Malmö is in Sweden, not Denmark.

Darn, my hot streak is growing. Doesn't change the essential point though.

[Najnaj]

I can see it making things worse... some idiot kid breaking into a home for money, or out of desperation, and going to jail/prison which hardens them and creates a "better" criminal.

Of course that may be a biased opinion based on US prisons, which are better than third world prisons, but worse than the scandinavian ones...so....

I think a better alternative would be to hire more officers/police and put them on the streets... including the "no go zones" that keep coming up in discussion.

It punishes where the crime is committed though, not where the criminal lives. I am still on the fence on this one but it isn't as bad as I first thought at least. As long as steps are put in place to make sure that people are not being penalized for being poor I might agree with this suggestion.

[Elba]

Malmö is in Sweden, not Denmark.

Making racist comments AND being ignorant of geography? You don't say.

[Jonnusthegreat]

Sounds exactly like America's "War on Drugs" campaign which was proven to be racist.

[Dhrizzle]

It's a difficult thing for me to judge. On the one hand it could be handing down stiffer punishments to people who are already living in shitty situations, on the other it might be what areas need to stop crime and anti-social behaviour making life even worse for the people who live there.

[Khaza-R]

Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. A crime is a crime. It shouldn’t matter who commmits it (barring special relations like parent to child).

Punishing people already struggling in society is a recipe for even more violent, rampant crime

[Lochton]

Would this be effective to crackdown on crime in those areas or do you think it's not going to solve anything?

It will have to be. These areas are known to have unprovoked attacks on public workers, postal workers, even police, medical and firefighters have had threats or assault. They should be as harsh as they can, for we can't have people acting like this - especially not in emergencies.

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I can see it making things worse... some idiot kid breaking into a home for money, or out of desperation, and going to jail/prison which hardens them and creates a "better" criminal.

Of course that may be a biased opinion based on US prisons, which are better than third world prisons, but worse than the scandinavian ones...so....

I think a better alternative would be to hire more officers/police and put them on the streets... including the "no go zones" that keep coming up in discussion.

They don't even need to out of desperation. Denmark and Sweden has people coming to the country just to get arrested to be able to live better than they have before.

[Allybeboba]

Possible it may work. Although, I doubt it. Many criminals don’t worry about the consequences of/don’t care/dont think about or don’t think they will get caught.

We have a some areas where fines are doubled. For instance, traffic fines are doubled in school zones. Yet, I see people violating them practically every day.

Peace

[Babadoo]

Only thing they understand is violence, so go ahead. Make them be afraid!

[Independent voter]

Strange how such a left wing people can be so right wing when it comes to diversity issues.

[Shadowferal]

Would this be effective to crackdown on crime in those areas or do you think it's not going to solve anything?

I can't really comment on what defines a "ghetto" in Denmark.
But in my old neighborhood, this "crackdown" would be laughable.

[d00mGuArD]

Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. A crime is a crime. It shouldn’t matter who commmits it (barring special relations like parent to child).

I don't think they said it matters who commits it. Only WHERE it is committed, no matter by who
If the who does not matter, and everyone gets equal treatment, is fine by me.

As an extreme example: The punishment for detonating a bomb in an empty field should be different than the punishment for detonating a bomb in a kids hospital
Based on the location, no matter who commits it

In this case, they propose: the punishment for damage property in poor areas to be higher than the punishment for damaging properties in areas that are richer. I imagine that the property of poor people has more relative value to them, because it would be harder for them to replace it

[Tackhisis]

To levy the heavier punishments on people who are more likely to commit crimes is a good idea.

[Jakexe]

Up next, affluent areas get reduction in crime sentencing, oh wait, that happens it's just not on the books.

What a joke, a crime is a crime. It doesn't matter who commits it they should all receive the same punishment. If they want harsher laws then make them harsher for everyone not just poor people.

[Tiwack]

"Where there is rule of law, it is very, very important that everyone is equal before the law. But I find it difficult to see how that could be the case with this proposal,"

Reduce inequality by stricter punishments defined by your zip code? Only a politician could've come up with this idiotic idea. Quote sums up my thoughts and imo they're nuts to suggest this.

[Macaquerie]

A literal two-tiered justice system, how could that possibly go wrong.