Here's a constellation of real possibilities: Take away SAFE. Never mind that SAFE is coming to Horn on March 6 to talk about personal safety at the apartment door after someone posing as a homemaker/helper got a vulnerable adult to open an apartment door in error. The point: we are used to CCP-SAFE officers helping us with crime prevention strategies. The ounce of prevention, rather than the pound of cure.
Take away the security guards. Never mind that they routinely keep outsiders from barging into the building; that they document non-residents' precise destinations within the complex. Never mind that they are in fact first responders in a variety of non-violent situations including medical emergencies. Never mind that they often serve as bridges between cultures and in general know who we are. The point: the people wearing those uniforms prevent bad situations from happening and make positive contributions to our quality of life. Take away Project Lookout funding. Never mind the value of training a cadre of volunteers who prevent crime by being purposely watchful and prepared to report suspect behavior. Take away the "Clinton cops". Too bad that police personnel will be stretched, that response times may suffer, that dependency on reactive enforcement may increase. Sorry to bring in this national stuff, but the Administration's new budget submission removes just about all the funding for this initiative. Take away the after-school enrichment programs (the ones meant to address the times of peak juvenile mischief). Take away the summer programs too, while you're at it. Nothing so synergystic as whole neighborhoods full of bored, unsupervised penniless kids and a busy street life based on illegal thises and thats. Take away these preventative strategies and see how much more expensive it is to pick up the pieces after nasty habits re-emerge. Or ... accept that some cuts can be too deep, especially if taken by different levels of government as if in isolation from one another. Some cuts are inevitable, but removing all prevention strategies would be downright feckless. Don't go there! Fred Markus, Horn Terrace, Ward Ten, in the Lyndale Neighborhood --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.449 / Virus Database: 251 - Release Date: 1/27/2003 TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ 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
