Steal Someone's Package? Here's a ticket!

[Lori Allen _]

At almost 10:00 A.M. on December 6th, 2015, a concerned citizen called police after they saw a female take a package off of a porch at 1225 Brockley. The female was apprehended by police. In the end however, she was given citation ( a ticket) for theft and sent on her way.

The suspect is Whitley Walker of 1222 Brockley. According to Lakewood Municipal Court Records, she has numerous other convictions dating back to 2010, for offences like violating restraining orders, assault, trespassing, and being drunk in public.

Especially since this person has a fairly long criminal record, I would imagine normal procedure would be to actually transport the person to jail where they can be photographed, fingerprinted, and put through the "booking process". From there, I presume bail could be set. Petty theft is a first-degree misdemeanor, which carries a penalty of up to 180 days in jail, if one is convicted. I'm not sure I buy the argument of "Lakewood didn't have room in the jail." Last I knew, Lakewood had agreements with several other nearby suburbs where Lakewood can keep prisoners in their jail and vice versa. I remember reading somewhere that Lakewood has somewhere around twenty cells.

However, it is important to keep in mind that the police answer to the Police Chief and that the Police Chief serves at the pleasure of the Safety Director. I suspect that the police's hands are often tied in situations like this. Why the apparent leniency higher up on the ladder, I am not quite sure.

Chalk it up to good police work for catching the suspect and good neighbors watching each other's properties.

Ms. Walker has a pre-trial conference set for January 12th at 1:30 P.M.

[Lori Allen _]

In reading into records further, it has also come to my attention that almost all shoplifters from stores in our city are almost always given a ticket and sent on their way. CVS & Walgreen's are infamous for shoplifters and should be labelled nuisance properties. While not every single person that ever shoplifts can be put into a cell and held until they post bond, they should at least be taken back to the station where they can be fingerprinted and photographed. This gets their information into the system.

[Phil Florian]

Good morning!

I enjoy reading your criminal blog on the LO. Sure, at times it does devolve into some conspiracy thinking that can be pinned on the mayor but I am always interested in the underlying discussion. I am curious what you think the outcome should have been and how you would have spent your limited resources in a case like this. There are only so many officers on duty at any one time, only so many jail cells (In the County, not just each municipality). There are only so many officers to process people with fingerprints, photos, etc.

That said, in this particular case I think you have not read this all correctly and actually got your wish. There was a warrant for her arrest and she was arrested on 12/8 per the docket. She is currently residing in one of those 20 cells and it isn't clear in the docket if she has a bond to pay but my guess is that she will be spending her holidays behind bars as her next pre-trial is in January. I am not sure where the leniency is that you are implying. So if you are reading it wrong and she is behind bars will you now laud the Safety Director for good judgement?

It looks like the police try to make the assumption that once caught and processed that she has a court date to deal with the consequences of her actions. She failed to appear as ordered, a warrant was issued and she was arrested when it was served.

She is an interesting person you picked out of the air, though. I work as a jail liaison downtown at the County jail and look at these docket screens all the time. They tell their own story. She has some serious felony charges that go back to 2010 and 11 as she has on the Lakewood docket, as well. What is always interesting to me is when there are large gaps. You can see her struggles writ large when you see a serious docket like in 2010-2011. Drug or alcohol abuse and related crimes that come from abuse, drug seeking and other bad behaviors. Some attempts at inpatient treatment at a facility on the East side (in this case, CATS per the journal entries) and even early termination of her probation (maybe for doing what she needed to get done or serving her allotted jail time, hard to be sure) and then relative quiet on all dockets until late this year. In between we see that she stopped paying her taxes with the city and around the same time she was formally evicted. Something went wrong. Maybe she lost a job and relapsed or maybe vice versa. Who knows. Now we see a spike in crime, a quick grab for some quick bucks. Maybe to feed a habit she had hoped to put behind her. And now she is back under the watchful eye of the City of Lakewood and Judge Patrick Carroll. What will they do this time to help right the course she is on?

What should the Judge do? Is locked up over the holidays enough to sate your needs as a citizen, Lori? If she has drugs in her system at the time of arrest this is a nice long period of detox. That may be in the Judge's thinking.

Jail time is possible. As I left work yesterday I was informed, as normally is the case, that the jail is well over its allowed inmate count. And the holiday fun of 12/26 to New Years hasn't even begun.

So I am curious, how would you armchair judge this case and how it was handled thus far by the police and then the courts?

Thanks!

[Stan Austin]

Phil--- Thanks for your unique -and- informed opinion. Stan Austin

[Corey Rossen]

Bump