Looting

There is something wrong with the American mind when in the middle of natural disasters, a top concern is "looting," especially by first responders. Especially during something like a hurricane, when "looting" might simply mean "taking water from the 7/11 in order to survive." But even generally. Fine, thieves, go steal my shit. It should be lowest in the list of concerns at these moments.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's office, tipped off by a concerned resident, shared a call to action on its Facebook page Tuesday, before quickly retracting it.
"Okay, Sonoma County, let's catch this crook. This truck is a suspect in a potential attempted looting in the Bennett Valley area," read the post, alongside a picture of a black pickup truck and a phone number to call.

...

The "suspect" turned out to be someone "assisting his friend in a time of crisis," according to a revised Facebook post by the sheriff's department.
"His actions were seen by a passerby and misinterpreted as looting when he was, in fact, selflessly assisting his friend," the social media post continues. "Thank you for helping others in this time of crisis and our apologies for the mix-up."

Fear of looting prompted officials to set a curfew between 6:45 p.m. and 7:15 a.m. in the evacuated areas of Santa Rosa.

You're preventing people from getting out there and helping to prevent others from dying and *helping them make sure more of their important valuables survive the fire* out of vague concern for "looting."

jfc