Re: [Mpls] Time to abandon the Northside?
I do not want to minimize the importance of having a fully staffed police force. But, it will not save the Northside from the crime even if we add 100 more cops. The cops we have now ARE arresting people. Time after time after time after time. Some criminals that citizen advocates are tracking through court watch have over 200 arrests. They just never seem to go to jail and if they do, it's a short visit. The poster child criminal that citizen advocates in Phillips have been using to make their points to whoever will listen finally got busted one too many times. On his last arrest he had already been trespassed from the area he was in and had just been let out on bail from another offense. On his final offense he was arrested for bashing in someone's windshield with a baseball bat. While the car owner was in the car. With his lengthy criminal record and history of violence he only got 19 months in jail and with good behavior will be out in 13. This he only got because the court watch volunteers were vigilantly tracking him and County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin took the time to write a community impact statement. There is some sort of criminal offender point system that would have put him in jail longer but he was one point short of the number needed. Based on this guys criminal history I cannot imagine what the criminal would be like that actually accumulated enough points to get a stiffer sentence. Ridding the criminal element from your block takes a very long time. It's damn near a full time job. The steps you go through to get rid of a crack house are daunting even for the most formidable crime fighters. And, it's scary. Being threatened by the drug dealers whether they are serious or not is very disconcerting. I am under have no false hopes that I am going to save anyone from drug addiction or sway them away from criminal behavior. My only goal when they arrive on my block and set up shop is to move them out as quickly as possible so my neighbors and I can exist here with some semblance of peace and security. My history has been that it takes months to remove the residents of a crack house and a lot of work and communication. And during that time, livability is seriously challenged. The response I get from people when I tell my war stories is why don't you move? Most vocal are my friends and family who have no clue what it is like to live with this stuff. That theory is just plain flawed in my book. Why should I move? Are people saying that it is acceptable to have certain parts of town designated as crime containment zones? If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen? That thinking is ludicrous. If all the law abiding citizens of these crime infested areas just packed up and split what positive purpose would that serve to this city? The answer is none. Barb Lickness Whittier = Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. -- Margaret Mead 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
Re: [Mpls] Time to abandon the Northside?
On Thursday, August 12, 2004, at 09:40 AM, David Greene wrote: I have forwarded your message verbatim to the Mayor. I know that he participates in this forum but I believe we need to emphasize this issue. I personally have pledged to the mayor my support for the Northside and my willingness to contribute time and taxes to saving it. If everyone makes this pledge we have a chance. The mayor has already spoken in his budget address yesterday, and his plan to cut our already understaffed police force by another 43 officers and the lack of much outcry from the Council Members says that the city has decided to abandon the Northside. None the less I will join you in pledging to help save the Northside, and would be happy to pay more taxes and spend more of my time doing so. Unfortunately though the city has spoken and it looks like our efforts would be wasted and at least by the city, unwanted. among the last to leave Hawthorne, Dyna Sluyter 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
Re: [Mpls] Time to abandon the Northside?
Dennis Plante wrote: 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. I have forwarded your message verbatim to the Mayor. I know that he participates in this forum but I believe we need to emphasize this issue. I personally have pledged to the mayor my support for the Northside and my willingness to contribute time and taxes to saving it. If everyone makes this pledge we have a chance. David Greene Lowry Hill East 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
RE: [Mpls] Time to abandon the Northside?
Dyna's mostly right (I never thought I'd hear myself say that) on this issue. Things aren't getting better on the Northside, they're getting worse. It's not only the gang-violence, or the terrible number of murders. It's the livability crimes that have increased as well. 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) _ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! hthttp://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ 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
