Glamorization of crime

A recent Associated Press article about an 85-year-old lifelong jewel thief named Doris Payne caught my attention. Payne’s life of crime is well documented; she laughs at being called a “thief” and says she loved being “hunted.” Her life of crime has spanned six decades, and she has been labeled an international criminal.

At first, I was upset that an article glamorizing crime was placed so prominently in the Herald-Leader, then I found out she had been interviewed and featured in newspapers and magazines all over the country, even featured in a documentary.

As a society, we have a fascination with people like her. History is full of famous criminals that we still talk about: Al Capone, John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, and further back, Frank and Jesse James.

We’ve had TV series like The Sopranos and movies like The Godfather that feed our appetites for details of the lives of criminals.

I believe, somewhat sadly, that this allure is not going away. However, we can have some refuge in the fact that many unheralded lawmen and our dedicated spiritual leaders are doing all they can to give us some balance against crime and guide us toward being better neighbors.

This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 6:48 PM with the headline "Glamorization of crime."