Since it is not "Murderapolis" should we instead call it "Rapeapolis" or some other marketing title to denote the lucrative drug sales opportunities?
Minneapolis had the distinction of having one of the highest rape rates for major cities in the United States for several years. Of course that is just looking at it statistically from a citywide basis. From an impacted neighborhood basis the statistics were much more indicative of the segregation of social problems. Perhaps even more insightful is the definition of rape as even being a social problem for poor neighborhoods of color. Even one or two rapes in a better neighborhood, or in a suburb, are social problems of such magnitude that they require immediate action and tons of media. Two or three rapes a month of poor women, or women of color, in an Impacted Neighborhoods apparently does not even rate social problem status. Ventura Village with a population of approximately 6000 had those "Statistics" for the last several years and it never even rated a footnote in the Star Tribune or on the Television News. Jordan Neighborhood I am sure had similar "Statistics" without rating it being considered a "Social Problem". Just as open drug dealing and gang activity is not considered a "Social Problem" if it is confined to poor neighborhoods, better known as "Containment Zones". The rest of Minneapolis and the Metropolitan Area do not consider these things to be a "Social Problem" or even anomalies because that is where such things are supposed to happen and is normal in their minds. Perhaps Gregory Reinhardt, with his love of statistics, could give us the probability of one Minneapolis resident (not a police officer) helping two separate rape victims within a one year space of time. Not very high, if I remember what I once taught a bunch of college kids. Yet I did help women with two separate incidents of rape a couple of years ago. When I insisted on calling the police one 20-year-old street woman who had just been raped said "They don't care what happens to us street people, so they are not going to do anything about it". I cannot express the shame and the outrage I felt that even a homeless person in "MY" city had reason to think that. But looking at statistics, and the lack of effort on the part of Minneapolis to even acknowledge the problem (let alone to change them), I have to sadly admit she probably was correct. Perhaps Mr. Reinhardt could pull up the rape and sexual assault rates (per hundred thousand of population) for Ventura Village and Jordan Neighborhood for the years from 1995 until today. As he did in the case of murder. Compare that statistic to the FBI's national incidence reports, or to the incidence experienced by the residents of other major cities. Compare it to New York or L.A., or better yet compare it to the closest city of similar size, Kansas City. Now that is a disgrace! The shame of ignoring the plight of poor women in the poor neighborhoods of Minneapolis should affect every elected official in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, and even at the State level. As I have said before "Minnesota Nice" is not very nice to poor women in the "Impacted Neighborhoods" of Minneapolis. We have a rape rate in some parts of Minneapolis that should be the shame of the "Civilized World" and we do not even identify it as a "Problem". Our female children are so frequently taken away to a life of prostitution that they have their own strip for prostitution in New York City, "The Minnesota Strip". Perhaps "Statistics" could explain what it is about poor women in poor neighborhoods that make Minnesota and Minneapolis undervalue them so much. Statistically speaking, I wonder what is the probability of having one (let alone 10 or 20) drug dealers on the street corner of a block in Minneapolis as a whole? Probably not very high! I wonder what the probability of having that "One" on the corner of a Jordan neighborhood is? The probability of finding one on the corner of Franklin and Park is? The probability of finding :One" or "TWO" between 25th and 27th on Bloomington Avenue is? I would say the confidence level in both those neighborhoods if not 100% would be in the 90's. Quite the contrast in probability doen't you think? No, statistics looked at Citywide do not inform us of the human tragedy experienced in a few neighborhoods of Minneapolis. The only purpose they serve is to cut the inadequate public safety that the residents of those neighborhoods already experience. Instead of demonstrating the need for additional police they justify cutting even more police officers from a depleted Police Force. Perhaps statistics could play a more positive role in identifying where more police resources should be located. No wait, you do not need statistics for that. A heuristic observation shows that a bunch of cops 24/7 should concentrate on that 1/4 mile of the Northside where the murders and drug dealings are occurring. With its identifiable problems you should not be able to even be in that area without being under major scrutiny for the foreseeable future. Every honest resident of the area should be on a first name basis with several police officers they see every day. From what is being written on the "List" and from observation you should also have saturation of Park and Franklin and of the 1/4-mile section around Bloomington and 26th. Create a thirty to fifty man Task Force and have them hit those problem areas at least twice a week until the problem moves and then move the target of the task force as the problem moves. But then what do I know, my opinions are based only on observing the real world, and statistics collected citywide might show there is not even a need to be worried let alone to take action. David Brauer says, "Sometimes, progress must be acknowledged and appreciated." Statistics show that during two separate months last year we did not have a single woman raped in my neighborhood, and some other months we had only ONE woman "forcibly" raped. WOW! What an improvement from averaging two or more women "forcibly" raped every month. (Of course this does not include sexual assaults that were unsuccessful, or unreported rapes) Minneapolis went from leading the nation in "Forcible Rape" rate with 604 forcible rapes in 1995, to about 380 per year now. A rate of about 100 per 100,000 of population. Ventura Village's rape rate is about 400 per 100,000; Jordan Neighborhood probably has a similar rate. Now that IS a major improvement. From leading the Nation now we are just one of the several top Cities for rape rate. NO ONE SHOULD BE ABLE TO OPENLY DEAL DRUGS, EVEN IN AN IMPACTED NEIGHBORHOOD! ALL WOMEN OF OUR CITY SHOULD BE FREE FROM THE FEAR OF RAPE, EVEN IN IMPACTED NEIGHBORHOODS! Until that happens the only statistic that matters is that ALL of Minneapolis has a 100 percent problem 100 percent of the time! Other statistics are just a bandage to hide the festering sore of what should be Minneapolis' shame, not its pride. Until that shame is addressed it is a slap in the faces of the victims to talk of statistics and about cutting an already depleted police force. Jim Graham, Ventura Village, Phillips Community, Third Precinct, Sixth Ward of Metropolis >"It is always an utter folly to underestimate the lure and attraction of a great evil. The whitened bones of their victims litter the highways and byways of mankind's history. Stopped only by the few willing to pay the ultimate price and make a stand." - Toe REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! 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