In the last two-weeks alone, I've had my truck, parked in my own driveway, broken into twice. Valuables were stolen, a side window was broken and another $1,000 worth of senseless vandalism was done to it. I'm not alone in this feeling. Many of my neighbors have fallen victim to the same type of livability crime. One neighbors' mini-van was stolen and totalled. Another neighbor had their huse burglarized a couple of weeks ago, while they were asleep IN the house no-less.
Another neighbor (husband/wife) are now known as "rats" by the dealrs down on the corner. They have had their car damaged, the man has been shot by a pellet-gun wielding youth and the wife has been threatened by a dealer that flashed his gun and said he was going to kill her. Another neighbor was physically beaten by dealers because she called 911 on them. She called me last nite and said that when she came home yesterday, her front yard (she's very proud of it) had been torn-up, the plants destroyed, the paving blocks removed and smashed. Yet another neighbor, a single mom trying to raise her child by herself, had her car window smashed and her picture window broken-out. Yet another neighbor had a headless body found in a trash can one block away.
Many, many residents on the northside have gone way above and beyond the call of what would be considered "normal civic duty". They're tired and they're frustrated. Many are moving-out as they see it as a batte they cannot win. In doing so, they're accepting that the "white-flight" that occurred in the 70's & 80's and the "black-flight" that is still occurring, maybe wasn't as bad an idea as they had originally thought. Society is failing both the productive, tax-paying residents on the northside AND those less-fortunate that still need our assistance. The answer isn't to beef-up visible police presence for a short amount of time after some newsworthy incident occurs. We've been doing that for years, without a measurable affect. The answer isn't to park a federally-funded mobile command police unit on one of the most infamous corners on 26th Av during normal business hours.
I personally don't know what the answers are. But i do know that our continued, predictable responses to these problems are failing. Consistently.... We need ALL of the decisionmakers to come to the table, forget what they think they know (and be willing to admit t) about dealing with the issues we are experiencing on the northside, roll-up their sleeves and listen. Really listen to the people that are living it day, after day, after day. They need to be willing to take what they hear from these meetngs and to have the guts politically to put their butts on the line. If they're serious in bringing about change.
I attended a Jordan Area Community meeting a couple of months ago where numerous residents brokedown hysterically when talking to officials with the frustration and grief that they're feeling about the situation. The net result - at the next meeting we were all given pencils and paper to submit our questions in writing for the officials that attended. It's much safer that way.
dennis plante jordan (for now)
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