(Keith says; Since the conversation has retuned to this topic, I felt this would be a fair reminder: The writing is on the wall!! Let us get rid of CCP/Safe and return to actual crime reporting and crime reduction.)
[Mpls] MDC(Most Dangerous Corner)&Safe Hot Dogs [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thu Jun 6 05:29:01 2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- The 2200 block of Irving Av. North assembled at the Boys Club to hear from our Police Dept.'s CCP Safe contingent. After three shooting deaths near their homes in two weeks the attendant folks were interested in safety for themselves and their families. Very interested. We learned that clothing colors may not identify gang affiliations. We were told to ''...be alert, if you do not feel safe, follow your feelings, etc.'' Further we must "...get outside, meet your neighbors, have an event, even a barbecue, to show the gangsters who WE are and that it is our neighborhood, etc." Safe, and other cops, could not be on the corner all the time, we were reminded, but if we had an "event" cops would be there and they could guarantee our safety. And they would provide the hot dogs. Yep, three killed in two weeks, drug sellers 24/7, 'gangsters roamin' and we get free hot dogs for an event. And a suggestion that we should all 'hang in there' cause judges are to lenient, criminals know their civil liberties, and, I guess, Gangs will be Gangs. I decided to speak to these fine, but shell shocked folks. "People," I said, " you live next to the MDC, the Most Dangerous Corner in Mpls." I continued, "West Broadway and Irving suffers under the 'funnel effect' whereby a disproportionate number of drug buyers and sellers come to your blocks, many from outside the neighborhood. There is a perception that you can buy or sell a drug here and 'get away with it'. And that perception compounds your safety problems and will continue to confound you until your City leaders cause that perception to change." "Your Ward Councilman, Joe Biernat, who is sitting right there [and did not say word one at this little meeting] is not ready to commit to improving your safety, here, by gathering up and delivering to this MDC, the crime mitigating resources you must have here before you can have a safe street. We need plain clothes Narcs, we need probation and parole enforcers, we need traffic cops. We need every resource the City and County have to allow a modicum of public safety, and in generously measured quantities. And we must have our Council Member commit, right here/right now to making your street safe and livable starting tomorrow morning." I further offered an analogy, since Safe was talking neighborhood Barbecue as our strategy. I said, "People, would you have a barbecue if it were raining? If it were just a deluge, would you gather outside to visit? Of course not, yet we all are being deluged in crime on this street. Affliction like that called down on the Egyptians by Moses in the Bible (yea, I really said that). And your City's strategy is free hot-dogs at your event! Well, Joe was near the door and he bolted out without a wave or a finger symbol. I imagine he hopped in his car and headed east across the river to the cozy comfort of his home, on his block, there, with his family. The meeting was soon adjourned. Many of us chatted outside afterwards. We did not feel safer but we knew that baloney came with the hot dog offer, so many were less confused about their situation. And that is a positive outcome. _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
