40 school buses with slashed tires: Prank or threat?

brennane | Crime | Sunday, 27 January 2008

Someone REALLY didn’t want to go to school on Friday. Apparently, the student body at Kaneland High School got a day off on Friday because someone deflated one tire on each of District 302’s 40 buses.
 
According to chatter on the Topix message board, citizens are concerned that the tire slashing may be gang-related.
 
Others think that the incident was merely a prank—one that backfired, since students must make up the missed day at the end of the year.
 
It’s hard to tell what’s cause for worry and what isn’t in schools today.
 
Every day there’s new stories about kids getting violent at school. Just look at Angel Facio, 16, who was indicted Friday for aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse and criminal sexual assault. This boy was not only charged with molesting an 8-year-old girl, he was also charged with stabbing his science teacher with a steak knife.
 
So, who’s to say that this prank doesn’t foretell more trouble? What do you think? Do you think Kaneland has cause to worry? Or were kids just being kids?

Man busted for dealing in prostitutes and drugs

brennane | Crime | Sunday, 27 January 2008

The world is full of people who profit from other people’s misfortune, a clichéd phrase but true. On Friday, Michael Spencer, 35, of Palatine was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $100,000 for paying girls cocaine to work as prostitutes. This man became a millionaire.
 
The Chicago Tribune quoted Shari Chandra, an assistant state’s attorney, as saying “He’s a dealer in women.”
 
Well, not only is he a dealer in women, he’s a dealer in drugs.
 
A CeaseFire outreach worker once told me that a lot of women get into prostitution because of drugs. A pimp will give them cocaine or heroin for free to get them hooked. Then, he’ll start asking for money. In order to pay for the drugs, these girls sell what they have—themselves.
 
The Center for Problem-Orienting Policing says that crack makes the prostitution issue even worse:
 
Crack cocaine markets drive down the price of street prostitution, as some prostitutes, desperate to buy drugs, sell sex cheaply. Other prostitutes resent them for driving down prices or permitting sex without condoms, and pimps punish them for withholding their earnings to buy drugs. Drug-dependent prostitutes are more vulnerable to violence and more likely to rob their clients. In summary, where drugs and street prostitution are linked, street prostitution becomes less predictable and more dangerous.
 
So, drugs and prostitution deal out a double blow. Take a look at this series of photos from the Hollywood Police Department showing the effects of drugs and prostitution on one woman over the years.
 
Women in the Victorian era became prostitutes in order to survive. This is what survival looks like today.