To The Editor:
“All  that is necessary for evil men to succeed is for good men to do nothing.”
I did not draw first blood.  I am a victim of a burglary, by default, that makes it my business.
The problem is that after posting a letter to the Dillon Herald, I received some calls. The common thread is as follows;
First, those who are committing the crimes are brazen, often plying their trade in the broad light of day. At other times operating under cover of darkness. They do their home work staking out prospects and learning the comings and goings of the potential victims as well as the value of the potential loot. Working in teams they invade, sometimes taking their time. With a network of eager buyers they sell their ill gotten gains most often for pennies on the dollar.  Many times they cross county and state lines into multiple jurisdictions. Crossing state lines can create a felony, especially in light of a continuing criminal enterprise.
They operate with impunity with no concern of capture by the law. Should they be captured there is no fear or respect for the judge.  A short sentence or probation puts them right back into the burglary business as if there had never been a brush with the law. Many burglaries are committed by parolees.
The players are the criminal, the fence or receiver of stolen goods, the victim, sheriff, police, sled, prosecutor , judge, and parole officer or dept. of corrections and insurance company, etc.
The criminal has little motivation to quit such a lucrative career.  The receiver of stolen goods has little fear. The victim is out the property and may never receive restitution.  Law enforcement is often overwhelmed by the sheer number of offenses and lack of resources often squandering manhours on minor driving offenses instead of committing more resources to investigations. I am sure this is way over simplified. SLED is backed up in the processing of evidence  causing a backlog of otherwise easily solvable crimes. The solicitor may have have to make deals with criminals in order to get convictions. The judge, well, he is the judge a lot falls on his shoulders and must weigh many factors, a job I do not envy.  A probation officer has a responsibility to monitor the subject and may or may not follow the subject close enough and take swift action to pull the plug when needed. dept. of corrections is simply the caretaker of the prisoner and employs the use of gain time to well behaved  prisoners getting them back into the public, regretfully many inmates will fall right back into the same line of criminal employment.
Finally we come to a kingpin, a major player in this scheme, the drug dealer who profits from from the proceeds of the stolen goods. The vast amount of money from this enterprise is not spent on food for a hungry family or even shelter but instead to fuel an addiction to illegal drugs.
Please get much much more aggressive in the removal of this nemesis of society.
Capturing the criminal is difficult. Law enforcement needs more targeted resources.  Forget new cars, forget seat belt tickets,  rip out the radar guns and let the tourist pass through the  county unmolested.  If they are speeding so what. They are the responsibility of the Highway Patrol.
They get paid for it; let them earn their money. Focus on the criminal element.
More help is needed from the State and Federal government and finally more help is needed from you. Consider joining  your neighborhood crime watch, if you don’t have one the sheriffs office can help.
Thief you should not have stolen from me. I am going to make your life here a living hell.  I would consider relocating if I were you.  I have no intention of letting you slide.  We ain’t buddies, we ain’t friends, we  ain’t pals.  We are enemies.  Your friends should distance themselves from you.  Your family should see the light and abandon  you, shunning you until you redeemyour- self.
Anyone who gives you shelter or protection from justice is my enemy  being just as guilty of the crime as you.  Those who received my property are just as guilty as you. Your days of freedom are numbered, so help me God.
I offer a reward to the the person who gives me the information that allows me to recover my property and convict you.
Please visit the website www.oakgrovecrimewatch.org for a description of some of the stolen items and contact information.  Please help me to capture the animals.
Next week  the topic is crime and punishment and how we can more effectively jail the criminals.
Tom Dees
Latta, SC