There’s a bandit on the loose, but don’t worry: the police say he’s extremely polite. According to local cops, the thief is handy with a razor, but only to trim the peach fuzz from his youthful, clean shaven face. The kid likes to rob banks — he’s ripped off five Yonge St. branches in a mere month — but goodness, police say, the grammar in the stick-up notes he hands to bank tellers is impeccable.

Toronto police inspector Mike Earl labelled this unknown thief the “lunchtime bandit,” and a “preppy punk” at a truly bizarre press conference on Tuesday. Media outlets have playfully amplified Earl’s comments — it kinda feels like folks are rooting for the kid. Given that the suspect is a young, book-smart, well-dressed white boy, his social value as a relatively harmless rascal is worth far more than the cash he has stolen.

“The suspect is described as preppy,” Earl told reporters at the press conference. Dave Chappelle, the beloved black comedian who has made a career critiquing whiteness, couldn’t have written it better. This joke, even if unintended, allows the public to take bandit boy and his crimes less seriously. Earl’s statement that the suspect is “a clean-cut individual that probably doesn’t fit this mould” is a much clearer indicator of bias — would a bearded suspect make more sense?

Inspector Earl, a veteran who has apparently investigated hundreds of bank robberies in Toronto, also emphasized the thief’s language skills in the notes he uses to demand cash from bank employees. “The notes, to my understanding, are well written with proper grammar, which tells me that he very well may be, uh, maybe he’s never been in trouble before,” Earl said. This eagerness to explain the thief’s behaviour, to vouch for his intellect, is notable for its sympathy. Why don’t police give all suspects such benefit of the doubt?

“Maybe he’s an educated individual and this is his only hope to get some kind of money,” Earl went on. Yeah, maybe. I wonder what policing in Toronto would look like if police were so generous towards all criminal suspects, particularly those who are not seen as white, male, well-educated, and well-dressed. Imagine police extended this generosity to the residents they disproportionately target through carding, people who are stopped even though they are not suspected of any crime.

I see why people might label the police and media treatment of the bank thief as “privilege,” whether they are referring to the suspect’s race, gender, or perceived social status. But privilege doesn’t go far enough. This white man is painted in a rosy light in direct contrast to people who must, for the sake of power and social dominance, be vilified. In other words, we reserve our worst assumptions and judgments about crime for the poor, the racialized, for trans and gender non-conforming people, for the uneducated. Treating this thief as we treat others would be going too far.

Media stories about the robber have emphasized the brazenness of his crimes — he doesn’t even try to hide his face when entering the banks he intends to rob. Gosh, it seems he has some weird confidence that he won’t get caught, or that if he is caught, his crime won’t be taken as seriously as it might otherwise be if he was someone else. Look no further than inspector Earl and the lighthearted media coverage to understand where the thief could be getting this idea.

American writer Ta-Nehisi Coates has compellingly described racism as “not merely a simplistic hatred. It is, more often, broad sympathy toward some and broader skepticism toward others.” We can extend this observation to patriarchy and classism. Privilege is a term we might use to describe the sympathies extended to this young thief, but the real problem is the violence of our skepticism for people we label as criminals and threats.

The so-called lunchtime bandit has been telling bank employees he has a gun when he demands money. Yet Earl and the police have not issued the well-known public warning that the thief should be considered “armed and dangerous.” It is interesting that, in a city where police kill black people who are holding hammers or scissors, or who are unarmed, the same cops can make excuses for a white guy who had the good sense to shave before committing his crimes. That’s not privilege, it’s power, a power that transforms a public terror into an intelligent white man whose “only hope” is to take what he wants by force.

Desmond Cole is a Toronto-based journalist. His column appears every second Thursday.