Posted on 08/24/2012 12:49:29 PM PDT by Lorianne
Greece's faltering economy has put many people out of work and cut support for illegal immigrants. Now Greeks are facing a rise in crime their police seem unable to stop.
It probably never occurred to Niki Yanakopoulou that she might be in danger as she let herself into her central Athens apartment building in the middle of the day.
The 75-year-old had just been to the bank and police say the man who followed her home most likely chose her at random, hoping she would be carrying her pension.
He entered the building behind her and hit her on the back of the head with a metal pipe before stealing her purse.
Her son found her lying in a pool of blood in the hallway outside her flat but by then it was too late to save her life.
"She was old and very thin; it would have been easy to snatch her bag without using much force, there was no need to kill her," her daughter Zoe says.
Stories like these are becoming more common in a country which just a few years ago prided itself on having one of the lowest crime rates in the European Union.
According to statistics from Greek police, burglaries increased by almost 50% in the last year, but the official national figures show just 604 domestic break-ins for 2012 - a level that would seem low for even the most law-abiding nation.
Criminologist Stratos Georgoulas, from the University of the Aegean, says it is unlikely these recorded statistics show the full picture.
"There is something we call the 'dark number' which describes unrecorded crime and this figure tends to be far higher than the official statistics."
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Last week I was loading groceries into my truck at a shopping center. Several young men came running through the parking lot holding bottles.
I thought it was odd that they were running.
One of them approached me and said that they had designer colognes at deep discounts for sale. He asked me what I wore and tried to push the bottle under my nose.
I told him, “I don’t wear cologne. GO AWAY.”
He ran off.
Later I found out that they had ether in the bottles. After the victim gets woozy, the perps steal wallets and purses.
Watch your Six.
Looks like your set, Publius. If you need a few 1,200-pound, 10-foot gators for your moat, drop me an e-mail.
Cheers
Gators? Already have them. That’s part of the final protective line.
If you need more, we have bigger ones.
Thanks.
I'm about as ready as anyone can be.
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