Good judges are the other part of the equation. Having an adequate police force is -of course- important, but it does no good if prosecutors aren't doing their job, if judges are turning criminals right back out onto the streets, and if police officers have their hands tied by regulations, or orders from the mayor. Further, more cops do no good if their chief purpose is raising revenue by writing tickets. More cops is a start, but so much more effort than that has to go into suppressing crime.
Most neighborhoods with crime problems can trace the vast majority of crime to a small group of people in the neighborhood. They are known criminals, but they continue to escape prosecution, or are given such light sentances that their cycle of criminal activity isn't noticibly interrupted. Dan McGrath Longfellow http://www.smokeoutgary.org ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jennifer L. Rubenzer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "gemgram" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Allen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2004 12:04 PM Subject: [Mpls] RE: Plan to hire more MPD officers call the mayor Jim: "...would there be enough police officers in Minneapolis if each day when you came home to Lowry Hill you had to push through drug dealers to get in your house? Allen would we need more police officers if criminals were selling drugs openly on your block in Lowry Hill? Would there be adequate numbers of police if the children from Lowry Hill were being sold drugs and solicited for sex?..." Me: All very good points, but I wonder what more police can do? Throw these criminals in jail? For how long? Will they be better or worse when they get out? Will they return to the same neighborhood to do the same things? Sounds like a cycle that more cops won't necessarily solve. I'm not a big "government is the answer" gal. I think people are the answer. Parents need to see value in RAISING their kids. Teenagers need to see value in waiting till marriage to have sex. Kids need roll models that show them the path to college, not the path to thug life. I'm sure cops are a small part of the solution. And I wish I knew the rest of the equation because our beautiful children are bearing the brunt of the hell that some of our neighborhoods have become without the option of a better life. All I know is that we've tried government hand-outs and hands-up and various programs but until our society stops making excuses for poor moral choices, the cycle will continue w/ or w/o more police officers. Just my opinion. -Jennifer Rubenzer Plymouth 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! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
