COMMENTARY | Your humble correspondent, noting the general chaos and squalor at Occupy Wall Street had generated an outbreak of thefts, expressed the fear Tuesday that the crimes would soon escalate to more serious ones.
It seems I was too late because the first recorded rape has been reported, alleged to have happened last weekend at the Occupy Cleveland protest site. According to CBS News, the victim was a 19-year-old student who was ordered to share a tent with the suspect because of a shortage of tents.
The suspect, who gave his name as "Leland," is alleged to have sexually assaulted the young student. She went back to school on Saturday, told a professor about the incident, and the professor reported it to law enforcement authorities.
There was no one at the Occupy Cleveland protest site that the woman could go to and report her alleged rape. Nor did she seem capable or willing to report the incident to the local police. It was only Monday, long after rape kit evidence could have been taken, that her professor found out and reported the incident.
The obvious conclusion to be reached that a combination of chaotic, unsanitary and unhealthy conditions combined with an extremely laissze faire approach to security has made some of these Occupy protest sites the breeding ground for crime. The enclaves have become, in some cases, autonomous communities with their own support system and their own governments, tucked right in the middle of modern American cities.
Unfortunately whatever passes for leaders of Organized Wall Street seem to be unable or unwilling to provide security for the occupiers who, for whatever reason, are camping out in public spaces. That in turns creates a safety hazard, not only for the protestors, but people who have the misfortune to live in close proximity to the protest sites.
Law enforcement needs to be more proactive in establishing security and making sure laws are obeyed at the Occupy protests sites. Ideally that would mean moving the occupiers by force if necessary. But at the very least the police should try to tamp down of thefts and even worse going on at these places.
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