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Show Page D10 THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, Wednesday, October 24, 1990 Crime wave follows freedom in Hungary BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) -- The liberation of Eastern Europe has stripped police of their greatest and crime is fear weapon booming. People seldom tested police authority in the old days. They knew every officer was empowered by the Communist authorities to intimidate, beat or arrest anyone. Crime existed, but the streets were generally safe for all except dissidents. When Communist parties fell from power, the prestige and authority of police fell with them. Without the advantage of fear, the forces of law and order seem uncriminals emequal to high-tec- h boldened by the new climate of freedom and the high profits of dishonesty. "When I started walking a beat a couple of yeais ago, all I had to do was look hard at any suspicious character," said Joska, an officer in his late 20s. "When I'm off duty and walking around here now, I have be extra sharp to make sure nobody picks my pocket." Joska, whose beat is fashionable. Vaci Street, would not give his full name. Hungarian police recorded a 38.8 percent increase in crime during the first six months of 1990 compared with the same period last year. In Budapest, 48,279 criminal cases were under investigation, up 79.5 percent from a year earlier. Police in the predominantly rural Slovak republic of Czechoslovakia reported a relatively modest 17 percent increase in crime, but the growth rate was 52 percent among the urbanized Czechs, with muggings up 250 percent in the first half of the year. In Prague, crime went up 138 percent. One reason Bulgaria began rationing some goods was that black marketeers were hijacking 70 percent of the shipments bound for Millions of Brazilian children work illegally RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) stores, the newspaper Duma reported in September. Poland reported a 69 percent increase in crime during the first half of 1990 and a 12 percent higher to 236 killings in a murder rate nation of 37 million. In Romania, with a population of 23 million people, 886 murders had been committed by the end of August, nearly double the number in the first eight months of 1989. Both street and white-collcrime have increased in the Soviet Union, where democratic change has been slowest. Embezzlement cases are twice as numerous as last year, said I. Runyshkov of the Intear one-four- th week. rior Ministry, and investigators Official statistics no longer are kept, but past studies indicate well over 1 million children aged 9 or younger also work. "The problem is not getting any better," said Rosa Ribeiro da Silva, who helped organize the latest survey for the Institute of Geography and Statistics, Brazil's version of the U.S. Census Bureau. d of kids 17 and "About under are working, which is almost identical to the situation two decades ago." Employers generally ignore the law making it illegal for children under 14 to work, and it is not enforced. The practical effect is that most children are hired without the required "work card," opening the door to exploitation. found corruption in half the 160,000 state firms checked between Janu- ary and August. Sometimes, lack of respect leads to the humiliation of police. About 20 pickpockets routed Polish officers at Warsaw's huge main railroad station in August. They sprayed some with a paralyzing gas and attacked others with planks ripped from benches. One patrolman was hospitalized and police managed to arrest only one person. In Prague, citizens conditioned by the image of police as the enemy ganged up on several pursuing officers when a pickpocket more than half the children make less than $30 a month, half the minimum wage, and few receive the benefits given older workers. In rural areas, most cluldren work on farms and the others as e merchants. Flocks of child vendors can be found at bus stops in small towns throughout Brazil. yelled: "The police are after me." The suspect escaped. "People must realize that, in a democracy, the police force functions as a protective force and not an abuser of its powers," Vladimir Nikl, a Prague criminologist, told reporters. "It must not be treated as an enemy." acknowledged "We're not prisoners and shouldn't be held against our will," he said. Four soldiers ' runi iiXf. , ii J, I 1 Hie free-lanc- AP Laserphoto A young shoeshine boy plies his trade in Rio with a friend. supposed to study if they work all day?" Not all the reasons children work are economic. Some parents see work as a better option than understaffed, inadequate schools. "Kids are believed to be safer and more likely to stay out of trouble, especially involvement with drugs, if they have a job," da Silva said. Roberto da Silva, a who shines shoes in a downtown square from noon to early evening, tries to balance work and school. "I go to school in the morning and then get the bus here," he said. "Studying is the only thing I like to do, and I don't want to stop." Gary Sell can help you with construction money and long term mortgages through FHA, VA and conventional financing. He knows construction and has worked with most of the local builders. He is also an expert on existing home financing. Gary likes to get out of the office. If you have any kind of construction or home mortgage need, give Gary 1 a call at and he will meet you halfway. 756-768- : .- I VI i i. FWt f m - I ft I' k. . Tn - x : ) , f f Is? 'I ) - j ' .4 h I f r i ; C .rf I- - ' - . ;; . ' I ' 1. Desert was made up of volunteer service people. Like many others, however, they said that if they weren't going to fight, they had no business sitting around in the desert. Spec. Darnell Thompson of Akron, Ohio, said his daughter was born in early October, and the from the Red Cross news took 10 days to reach him. He had been due for discharge soon but emergency orders extended his stay for six months. Shield ni unit iia..;.. Ik Let Gary Meet You Halfway - Whorter Increasing numbers of middle-clas- s women have entered the labor market, turning their children over to baby sitters or day care, but older children in poor families are forced to work while the mother stays home with the youngest. "For those with money, work for their children is preparation for the future," said Ana Beatrize Braga, a sociologist and researcher at the Federal Univeristy of Rio de Janeiro. "For the poor, it is simply an immediate necessity and reality." She said child labor will not decline significantly until Brazil's skewed pattern of income distribution is corrected. A World Bank report this year classified it as the third worst, surpassed only by Sierra Leone and Honduras. Observers say poor working children rarely climb the social ladder because few get the schooling necessary for good jobs. "The law says children have the right to an education, but reality dictates otherwise," da Silva said. "How are these kids statistics indicate Institute f isasaWS ing. one-thir- Among recent victims of Bulgaria's brazen pickpockets was a Greek police general relieved of his wallet in a Sofia department store. boredom in Saudi desert - washing cars, peddling candy and selling newspapers. Anderson Fernandes, who has two brothers and a sister he calls "the kids," lives in the poor North Zone of Rio. He has worked more than a year and has no time for the beach, pickup soccer games or other childhood pastimes. What about school? He shrugged and said: "I like to study, but making money is more important." The earnings of most children go to their parents and, according to Institute figures, provide up to 30 percent of a poor family's income. Anderson's father is a handyman in a downtown build- full-tim- Gis battling IN EASTERN SAUDI ARABIA The 24th division's "Battle (AP) Kings" man 155mm howitzers, but the only weapons used in anger are flyswatters. The enemy, for many, is a clock that moves too slowly. "People keep telling lies that morale is high," said Spec. Chris Hernandez of San Antonio, Texas, playing cards with friends who nodded assent. "They're only fooling themselves. Morale is low." A sampling of the 200,000 soldiers and Marines deployed under Operation Desert Shield to confront Iraq suggests a classic military malaise: Troops, with no idea of when new orders might come, want to get back to their lives. Some have been in the blistering northeastern Saudi desert for more than two months preparing for a battle that might never come. The desert weather is cooling down, but the sand remains, fouling equipment, jamming weapons and fraying tempers. But many are still anxious to fight. Marine Sgt. Marco Rodriaircraft meguez, a chanic from Santa Barbara, Calif., left no doubt. "I'll come home in one of two ways, the big parade or in a body bag," he said. "I prefer the former, but I'll take the latter." Lack of enthusiasm, however, seemed more common. Field commanders like Lt. Col. Stephen Lutz, of the 3rd Battalion, 41st Field Artillery the Battle Kings scrounge videos, books, volleyballs and games to help their troops get by. "We're thinking about this every day," Lutz said of growing morale problems. "We try to provide some relief and outlet for the soldiers." Sgts. Steve Coles, of Pittsburgh, Pa., and Ty McWhorter of Wichita Falls, Texas, weren't convinced by the efforts. They spent last Christmas in Panama on Operation Just Cause. This year, they figure, they'll miss out again. "All the goodies, we don't want them," Coles said. "We only want one thing: to go home. And that's speaking on behalf of everyone." McWhorter nodded gravely. His daughter was born 17 months ago, just before desert training. Then came Panama and more desert training. And then Saudi Arabia. Like most others, Coles and Mc- Jobs for city children tend to be in light industry and commerce, or on the streets shining shoes, Anderson Fernandes, a skinny makes about $4.50 in 12 hours of selling peanuts in downtown Rio and gives it to his mother to help feed the family. At least he is old enough to work; the legal age is 14. Many other children are not, and some enter the labor market at 8 or 9. Most working children are eme and paid less ployed than the equivalent of 25 cents an hour. A government report released this month said 7 million youngsters between 10 and 17 were working in factories and stores, on farms or on the streets. It said more than were 14 or under and most worked more than 40 hours a playing cards broke in to condemn the long, uncertain wait. 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