Tyrone Terrill's open letter to the African American community calls on the community to support a police crackdown on gang activity. And it is possible to discern important elements of the not yet disclosed Minneapolis police crackdown plan. In addition to rounding up and locking up the usual suspects, i.e., young African American males, the police will round up those who "harbour" gang members (family members, friends, etc.).
A few things to keep in mind: 1) The illegal drug trade is a big source of revenue for gangs. 2) A large percentage of arrests, convictions and incarcerations are for drug related offenses. 3) Today's Star Tribune reported on the planned merger of the State's gang and narcotic strike forces, to improve police coordination in these areas. 4) A proposed new mandatory snitch law is working its way through Congress. The proposed new law will make it a crime to not report illegal drug use or dealing to police within 24 hours of acquiring knowledge about it. The text of an E-mail from the Marijuana Policy Project about this proposed new law is at my blog site http://educationright.tripod.com/blog/index.blog?entry_id=1123151 5) Given the incredibly high proportion of African American youth (including adults 18 to 30 years of age) who are under court supervision (prison, parole, etc.), there is certainly a huge network of police informants in the African American community. Chuck Wexler, the city's out-of-town crime policy expert has been in town to brief those-who-need-to-know what up, such as high-ranking police officials, the mayor, and a few trusted leaders of the African American community. Terrill's open letter to the African American community, on St. Paul Dept. of Human Rights letterhead, isn't a lighting-bolt out of the blue. It was issued several weeks after the Star-Tribune's call for a police crackdown on gang activities. Chuck Wexler had already been in town to offer his expert advice on putting it together. And we should note that Mayor RT Rybak's resume includes being a reporter for the Star-Tribune and a Public Relations consultant. Getting a lot of African American preachers and other African American leaders to call for a police crackdown. If it was entirely Rev. Terrill's idea, I am sure that RT Rybak was quick to support it from behind the scenes. The important thing, you see, is to DO SOMETHING about the gang problem. It doesn't matter whether the strategy of choice is effective. It doesn't matter how it affects the African American community. And anyone who isn't for the latest "solution" to the gang / crime problem, is against doing "something" about it. I believe that an effective strategy to curb gang activity and gang related violence in the African American community must include steps to rapidly change conditions that motivate people to join gangs. I recommend more aggressive enforcement of laws against illegal, race based discrimination in the fields of employment, housing, education and law enforcement. -Doug Mann, King Field candidate for 8th ward city council http://educationright.com REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact 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 Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
