"Ryan Ginstrom" <ginstrom@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<btvfln$aba62$1@ID-101276.news.uni-berlin.de>...
> "Louise Bremner" <dame_zumari@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1g7hrom.110wpvv1dcf1roN%dame_zumari@yahoo.com...
> > So after all that training (some would call it "bullying") designed to
> > convert them into gentle, considerate giants around normal-sized people,
> > they can turn around and act menacing? Somehow I find that hard to
> > believe....
> 
> Possibly not -- but your average joe on the street doesn't know that.
> 
> Then again, how effective they are is an open question. Most crooks are
> worried about getting caught, not getting pummeled. And I have to wonder how
> effective a sumo wrestler would be at chasing down a pickpocket for several
> blocks, over fences etc...
> 
> Probably good publicity for the sumo world, though.

Just the visible presence of someone on the lookout for crime (such as
a neighborhood watch) is often enough to bring down crime.  As you
mentioned they are worried about getting caught - so they will go
somewhere easier.

You`d think the police would think about that and start posting people
on street corners of high crime areas instead of sitting in their warm
little boxes.

The fact that they are sumo wrestlers is just an ammusing sideline.