Nicknames Can Solve Crime

Police in Delray Beach, Florida, have a new tool to help them capture gang-bangers: Nicknames...

Names, tattoos and other identification gathered during routine street patrols and from confidential informants are increasingly added into police databases, police administrators say. Investigators turn to these repositories to strip criminals of their anonymity and bring them to justice.

"When we get stuff from informants, a lot of them don't even know [a suspect's] real name. They know their street name,"

The Delray Beach po-po have garnered a large database of nicknames to use in the fight against crime. Here are some of the more popular and unique names they have in their database:

"Peanut," for example, is the most common name in the Delray Beach files, appearing nine times. All are men, ranging in age from 19 to 44.

"Peanut" is followed in the database by five for "Big Man" and four each for "Champ" and "Pee Wee." Not to forget: "Betty Boop," "Bebop," "Bam Bam" and "Bean Pole."

Then there's "Butter Cat," "Boy George," "Horse Head," "Chicken Man," "Guy Boy," "Weasel," "Tweet," "Scarface," "Snow," "Snake," "Stinky," "Donkey Weed" and "Drunk Moe."

I'm glad I'm not gangbangin' anymore, I'm glad I'm off the street and out of that life.

I grew up on the mean streets of the Bridlepath in Toronto. I use to hang with a wily bunch, we all had our nicknames, we all played by our own rules. I use to hang with a couple of really tough homies: MC Hammerschmidt and Tupac of Root Beer. I went by the name Busta Nut.

Hammershmidt and Tupac of Root Beer aren't with us any more, they went on to be grief councillors for the Toronto District School Board, and I, well, you know my story.

Why did I even bother writing this post? Simple, if I can get just one gangbanger off the street using my words and telling my story, then it is all worth it. So, for all you little street urchins, it's not too late to turn things around. It's not too late to make something of yourself. If you just stop what you are doing, you too can have government jobs in Toronto. Think about it, hide and seek for a G note a week.

Word, from Busta Nut