Friday, April 2, 2010

Joke or crime?

Many by now have heard or read about the kid from the Harvard (Ill.) area who delivered an envelope with talcum powder to one of his buddies as an April Fool's joke.

Only it's turning out to be no joke, because the full weight of the law is bearing down on him.

According to this morning's paper, it was "unclear" whether the teen (a minor, so his name is not being released) mailed or delivered the envelope, placing it in his buddy's mailbox. His buddy's brother handled the envelope, noticed "white powder" and called the police.

And the haz-mat team showed up. Did MARV show up?

I mean, when you own all this equipment and have people chomping at the bit for a little exercise, send them out; right?

The sender's nickname was on the letter inside the envelope, indicating it had been sent as a joke.

Is this a case of over-kill by law enforcement? Lt. Andy Zinke of the McHenry County Sheriff's Department was quoted as saying, "In this era of hazardous materials and terrorist threats, these types of calls are always taken seriously."

If this was an April Fool's joke, then the deputies don't need to over-react. If the kid trying to make a joke is 16, what would he really know about the scare a few years ago that resulted when people were worried about Anthrax. Does he even know what Anthrax is?

If it was a joke, let it go. There is no need to threaten him with a crime; not even disorderly conduct. Sure, looking back, it was a stupid thing to do. It doesn't merit a "textbook exercise" in how to address terrorist activity in McHenry County.

Go get the real criminals.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Are you too old to remember what anthrax is? Why shouldn't they take it seriously until they are sure what the substance is? No they don't need to treat him like terrorist. But what if it really was a hazardous material and they took your approach to it?

mike said...

If, as you say, at 16 yrs he's too young and dumb to know about the anthrax scares, etc. then why the white powder? A bag of dog crap set afire on the stoop is a prank, an unmarked envelope - mailed OR dropped off - containing white powder is, at best, an extremely stupid thing to do. At worst, a criminal thing to do. You insinuate that police may have overreacted because of this "prank" and rolled out the mighty forces of government because they could. At what point do you suppose the police or anyone else knew that they were dealing with a stupid 16 year old? I suspect it was after the equipment rolled. This is yet another example of your thought processes or your blindness towards seeing anything but the worst in the motivations of others. Seen any black helicopters lately?

Gus said...

No, I am not too old to remember anthrax. The point is, is a 16-year-old too young to remember what it is???

The next time I am changing a baby's diaper and see some white power on the floor, should I call MCSD, so they can roll the Haz-Mat team and MARV?

Gus said...

Mike, do you think maybe a sharp-eyed cop or deputy or other first-responder might have noticed that the note was signed and possibly asked the brother or family, "Do you know somebody named _______?"

Then you call the kid and ask him if he sent a note to his buddy.

Look! What are trying to find out here? Whether it's a dangerous substance! You can deal with the prank later.

Yes, I realize that might "spoil" their case. Gotta keep those arrest stats up...

mike said...

The point is... They don't taste test that crap before they roll on it. What the hell are you thinking? Watching too much television. You seem to assume (and yes it certainly did make one out of you this time) that they opened the letter, let the powder fall out, read it and saw that it was "supposed to be a joke" and then called out the troops. If you found a suspicious looking parcel that MIGHT be a bomb, would you pick it up and take it to the police station? As for 16 yrs old, I never meant that YOU didn't know about it. You insinuated the kid wouldn't/shouldn't know about it. Rubbish. He may not have memories of the actual events but he certainly - unless he's a complete moron - know the significance of a strange white powder in the context of pushing someone's buttons. Else, why not just drop some dog crap on them? Why white powder. Your reasoning skills are failing you.

Notawannabee said...

You never seem to let me down as far as your cynical look at police investigations. I'm sure you feel that under you governance ( as Sheriff and number one red light leader) you can CSI anything by just showing up and use your wondrous powers of investigative prowess and save the day.

REALITY CHECK...there is a procedure and it does not involve ignoring sound police protocol and ignoring the crime. Remember that the offenders at Columbine were only high school age and had numerous diabolical plans to wage Mass destruction.....

If Gus was in charge he’d say...they are just kids....

Philip said...

What the hell is wrong with kids today? This kid should reimburse EVERY law enforcement agency involved. Secondly, he needs a trip to the woodshed with his Dad and a shaving strap. Knock some sense into that kid.
Look at this situation in Massachusetts involving the 15 year old girl who killed herself because she was being bullied.
Ever since they have taken discipline away from parents and the schools, kids are just a f-cked up bunch.