Thank God The Bad Guys Are Still Stupid

I have a bunch of “dumb criminal” stories milling about smartly in my head. Once in a while I see one that just makes the ‘A’ list. Check out the genius who left his pants at the scene of a burglary. But wait, there’s more. He didn’t limit the idiocy to depositing his pants at the scene (possibly forgivable, since he was fighting with the homeowner / victim.) He left them there with pockets full of stolen property from other crimes in the same neighborhood.

Every so often during my tenure as a detective, I would sit on the witness stand and describe for the jury what the suspect had done. As I heard the words come out of my mouth I would think to myself, “thank god they are still dumb, or we might not catch anyone!”