• Showroom7561@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    37
    arrow-down
    21
    ·
    1 year ago

    My solution would be this:

    Have a running total for damages caused by vandals and call it a “Vandalism Lottery”. When someone is caught vandalizing in the community, they win the lottery, but instead of getting money, they pay whatever that lottery amount is up to. $700,000? To bad! Work the rest of your life to pay it off.

    And to keep it fair, the starting amount should be no less than $20,000.

    On top of that, they should be required to clean up any identified vandalism for at least the next year.

    It should NEVER be at the loss of residents, students, or taxpayers to recoup damage caused by idiots.

    And yes, I’m salty because vandals caused over $50,000 to a brand-new waterfront park we had open this past year, and the Vandalism Lottery would have been a wonderful prize to the jackasses who got caught!

    • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      25
      ·
      1 year ago

      Even this I disagree with. It sounds like a good idea until the total cost is substantial, and they don’t want to foot the bill. So they watch for someone who does anything that can be misconstrued as vandalism and force them to foot the bill.

      Not to mention, fining someone for $100 in damage nearly a million is honestly more unethical than the vandalism.

      There’s a reason we don’t do this type of thing in the legal world, it’s easily taken advantage of, and unethical as fuck.

      • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        So they watch for someone who does anything that can be misconstrued as vandalism

        Vandalism serious enough to be brought to court would be enough to win the lottery. If it’s something petty, like doodling on a park bench with a pencil, then they don’t win, but they should still do XX months of community cleanup.

        As an alternative to the lottery, how about we charge the scumbags 2x the actual cost to repair the damage they caused. And 1 year community cleanup as a sign of goodwill.

        Either way, the cost to society far outweighs the current cost of committing these crimes. Flip it around and see what happens.

        • cozycosmic@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          1 year ago

          Are you proposing that doodling on a bench with pencil should warrant months of community service?

          • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            1 year ago

            Yes, a month of community cleanup sounds fair.

            We’re not talking 24/7 enslavement, btw… “months of community service” could mean “20 hours of community service over four months.”