In Philadelphia, Everyone’s A Thug Nowadays

When writing about crime, it’s apparently officialy Daily News policy to use the word “thug” as much as possible. (”Punk” also works in a pinch.)

I’m not quite sure why. “Philadelphia thugs murdered a woman today.” Do we really need a pejorative to describe the men who murdered someone? Isn’t saying they murdered someone enough? Apparently, though, it’s not just murderers and rapists who enjoy the thug life:

Since November, investigators said, they’ve counted at least nine vehicles stolen from garages used by the Marriot Courtyard, across from City Hall, the Kennedy House apartment building on John F. Kennedy Boulevard near 19th Street, and various other valet lots.

Cops said it is common practice for current and former downtown-garage attendants to either rent out the cars to their friends in outside neighborhoods, or to just joyride in the vehicles, while customers are at work or out on the town. [...]

So far, police said, they’ve nabbed two thugs out driving the cars stolen from the Marriot garage at 12th and Filbert streets. Officers found one man cruising around North Philadelphia. The other was caught driving in Maryland.

I can’t wait to see what gets the thug label next. Petty larceny? Thug! Spitting on the sidewalk? Thug! Stealing the mail? Thug! I suppose it could go the other way, too, as Osama Bin Laden will be described as a “terrorist thug” in an editorial.

In other news, one of the cars these thugs stole was a Dodge Neon. Because when you have a whole lot full of cars to choose from, you just gotta take the best one.

Valet-park crimes cited [Daily News]