Guest
05-30-2015, 03:22 PM
I hope a genuine, honest conversation can be held on this subject. I ask that those who troll, and simply do not want to engage in adult conversation just move on.
It is a serious problem that needs to be addressed.
From the Wall St Journal
"The nation’s two-decades-long crime decline may be over. Gun violence in particular is spiraling upward in cities across America. In Baltimore, the most pressing question every morning is how many people were shot the previous night. Gun violence is up more than 60% compared with this time last year, according to Baltimore police, with 32 shootings over Memorial Day weekend. May has been the most violent month the city has seen in 15 years.
In Milwaukee, homicides were up 180% by May 17 over the same period the previous year. Through April, shootings in St. Louis were up 39%, robberies 43%, and homicides 25%. “Crime is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said St. Louis Alderman Joe Vacarro at a May 7 City Hall hearing.
Murders in Atlanta were up 32% as of mid-May. Shootings in Chicago had increased 24% and homicides 17%. Shootings and other violent felonies in Los Angeles had spiked by 25%; in New York, murder was up nearly 13%, and gun violence 7%.
Those citywide statistics from law enforcement officials mask even more startling neighborhood-level increases. Shooting incidents are up 500% in an East Harlem precinct compared with last year; in a South Central Los Angeles police division, shooting victims are up 100%.
By contrast, the first six months of 2014 continued a 20-year pattern of growing public safety. Violent crime in the first half of last year dropped 4.6% nationally and property crime was down 7.5%. Though comparable national figures for the first half of 2015 won’t be available for another year, the January through June 2014 crime decline is unlikely to be repeated."
The New Nationwide Crime Wave - WSJ (http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-new-nationwide-crime-wave-1432938425)
This follows and introduces the "meat" of the article.
"The most plausible explanation of the current surge in lawlessness is the intense agitation against American police departments over the past nine months"
I am hoping anyone who is interested reads this article.
I do not see this as a political debate, or want it to be. To set a frameworks for discussion, allow me to ask opinions......
1. From where should the leadership come on this issue ? Is it state, federal, or each community by itself ?
2. What part has the media played in clarifying or distorting the real issue ?
3. Is this issue really racial or more economic ?
4. How do you see this issue being resolved ?
This article is tilted to the police side of the problem, but the more I read about what is going on, I blame the media mostly. They, the media, have chances to lead and this is a great example. It is NOT their job, I know, but seems to me they play each and every situation for ratings and do not develop the entire story. I also think the politics of this are stupid. Crime is not right or left.
I also think that both sides or all sides need to look past the color of ones skin when looking at this. There are bad police, both black and white...THAT STATEMENT CAN APPLY TO ANY OCCUPATION. Trying to read minds is a very dangerous thing to do in any situation, and in this particular situation downright dangerous.
To me this issue is vital. We are a country of laws, and if some ignore that fact we are doomed.
I hope all treat this subject in a serious way, and if my presentation is twisted, I am sorry. I just think our country needs to have this conversation. Every time, we seem to split between political parties and that just sucks. Republicans do not want blacks treated differently, and democrats want the law enforced.
Thanks in advance for trying to understand and keeping this at a level higher than many threads.
I am hoping that simply honing in on the four questions I ask might keep us from going off the track.
It is a serious problem that needs to be addressed.
From the Wall St Journal
"The nation’s two-decades-long crime decline may be over. Gun violence in particular is spiraling upward in cities across America. In Baltimore, the most pressing question every morning is how many people were shot the previous night. Gun violence is up more than 60% compared with this time last year, according to Baltimore police, with 32 shootings over Memorial Day weekend. May has been the most violent month the city has seen in 15 years.
In Milwaukee, homicides were up 180% by May 17 over the same period the previous year. Through April, shootings in St. Louis were up 39%, robberies 43%, and homicides 25%. “Crime is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said St. Louis Alderman Joe Vacarro at a May 7 City Hall hearing.
Murders in Atlanta were up 32% as of mid-May. Shootings in Chicago had increased 24% and homicides 17%. Shootings and other violent felonies in Los Angeles had spiked by 25%; in New York, murder was up nearly 13%, and gun violence 7%.
Those citywide statistics from law enforcement officials mask even more startling neighborhood-level increases. Shooting incidents are up 500% in an East Harlem precinct compared with last year; in a South Central Los Angeles police division, shooting victims are up 100%.
By contrast, the first six months of 2014 continued a 20-year pattern of growing public safety. Violent crime in the first half of last year dropped 4.6% nationally and property crime was down 7.5%. Though comparable national figures for the first half of 2015 won’t be available for another year, the January through June 2014 crime decline is unlikely to be repeated."
The New Nationwide Crime Wave - WSJ (http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-new-nationwide-crime-wave-1432938425)
This follows and introduces the "meat" of the article.
"The most plausible explanation of the current surge in lawlessness is the intense agitation against American police departments over the past nine months"
I am hoping anyone who is interested reads this article.
I do not see this as a political debate, or want it to be. To set a frameworks for discussion, allow me to ask opinions......
1. From where should the leadership come on this issue ? Is it state, federal, or each community by itself ?
2. What part has the media played in clarifying or distorting the real issue ?
3. Is this issue really racial or more economic ?
4. How do you see this issue being resolved ?
This article is tilted to the police side of the problem, but the more I read about what is going on, I blame the media mostly. They, the media, have chances to lead and this is a great example. It is NOT their job, I know, but seems to me they play each and every situation for ratings and do not develop the entire story. I also think the politics of this are stupid. Crime is not right or left.
I also think that both sides or all sides need to look past the color of ones skin when looking at this. There are bad police, both black and white...THAT STATEMENT CAN APPLY TO ANY OCCUPATION. Trying to read minds is a very dangerous thing to do in any situation, and in this particular situation downright dangerous.
To me this issue is vital. We are a country of laws, and if some ignore that fact we are doomed.
I hope all treat this subject in a serious way, and if my presentation is twisted, I am sorry. I just think our country needs to have this conversation. Every time, we seem to split between political parties and that just sucks. Republicans do not want blacks treated differently, and democrats want the law enforced.
Thanks in advance for trying to understand and keeping this at a level higher than many threads.
I am hoping that simply honing in on the four questions I ask might keep us from going off the track.