DC crime wave...

[QCassidy352]

Any other DC area residents find it troubling that the city has had 13 murders since July 1? And armed, violent robberies are way, way up too.

I think it's disgraceful that the capital city of the world's only democratic superpower is allowed to exist like this. Great example. Get more police on the streets, more money in to the schools, more economic development that reduces the crushing poverty that leads to this kind of criminal climate.

IMO the state of this city is sad, depressing, frightening, and pathetic. What's worse, DC is worlds better than it used to be. I'm sure as hell getting out of DC before I start a family because there's no way I'd want to raise children here.

 

[count chocula]

and they blamed it on the bullets (wizards) 13 murders in 12 days is insane. move to arlington

 

[MongoTheGeek]

It used to be worse. They averaged 1.5 a day in the 80s

 

[nbs2]

13 murders in 12 days is insane.

Meh. Go to Baltimore sometime.

 

[Hoef]

sound like breeze compared to Houston

 

[QCassidy352]

the fact that it used to be worse, or that other cities are just as bad/worse, only makes this more depressing. The wealthiest, most powerful nation in the world should be able to come up with some better solutions...

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Take a tour: Georgetown and NW DC and then go to Anacostia - its not pretty.

I did a Christmas in April renovation a few years back in NE DC and it totally sucked. Its not just the junvies, its the society itself and there is no easy fix.

D

 

[iTwitch]

Meh. Go to Baltimore sometime.

Watch it dude, I'll shoot up, come down there and bust a cap in your a$$.

 

[ravenvii]

It's sad and ironic that Martin Luther King Jr. bears a part of the blame for this. Sorry politically correct people, but the fact is, I'll bet you a million dollars that a majority, if not all, of those 13 murders involves black people. And even sadder is that the improvement is coming because white people are starting to buy property, pushing them out.

I'm not saying the black race is at blame, not at all, it's all circumstances that begun generations and generations back.

And I agree, the fact that DC is in this shape is pathetic. America should have a Rome, but ends up with a DC.

 

[savar]

IMO the state of this city is sad, depressing, frightening, and pathetic. What's worse, DC is worlds better than it used to be. I'm sure as hell getting out of DC before I start a family because there's no way I'd want to raise children here.

I live in NoVa and would like to move to the district, but I none of the neighborhoods that I can afford seem safe. I parked at a friends place at 11th and Mass to spend the night and had my car broken into. Nothing stolen -- nothing in there to steal. But $200 in deductible and a week waiting for the glass shop to get a replacement window for my car. (This was February, by the way, I was freezing my butt off.)

Arlington is a nice compromise.

It's sad and ironic that Martin Luther King Jr. bears a part of the blame for this. Sorry politically correct people, but the fact is, I'll bet you a million dollars that a majority, if not all, of those 13 murders involves black people. And even sadder is that the improvement is coming because white people are starting to buy property, pushing them out.

I'm not saying the black race is at blame, not at all, it's all circumstances that begun generations and generations back.

And I agree, the fact that DC is in this shape is pathetic. America should have a Rome, but ends up with a DC.

I agree that a lot of white people are trying to rent/own where a lot of black people happen to live, but I fail to see the connection to MLK. The main problem is that for a lot of years, money was fleeing urban centers; now, money is moving back, and it wants that land which used to be so cheap. This is happening all over the country, DC is just particularly bad.

 

[MongoTheGeek]

It's sad and ironic that Martin Luther King Jr. bears a part of the blame for this. Sorry politically correct people, but the fact is, I'll bet you a million dollars that a majority, if not all, of those 13 murders involves black people. And even sadder is that the improvement is coming because white people are starting to buy property, pushing them out.

I don't think that King is to blame. he was an excellent role model. A number of the other leaders of the era were not so good. The black panthers were idealized but were in many ways just common thugs. The great society programs were one of the things that hurt blacks a lot by disintegrating the family. 300 years of slavery and oppression couldn't break the spirit of the black people, 30 years of free money did. The trend towards suburbia did a lot to hurt as well. People moving away from each other allowed many areas to slide.

 

[ravenvii]

I don't think that King is to blame. he was an excellent role model. A number of the other leaders of the era were not so good. The black panthers were idealized but were in many ways just common thugs. The great society programs were one of the things that hurt blacks a lot by disintegrating the family. 300 years of slavery and oppression couldn't break the spirit of the black people, 30 years of free money did. The trend towards suburbia did a lot to hurt as well. People moving away from each other allowed many areas to slide.

I agree with you that King was an extraordinary man, and what happened was not his intent.

But he did encourage a lot of blacks to converge in DC and the surrounding area to fight for civil rights. But they didn't think about what happens after. Once the fight was over and they got their civil rights... turns out not all that much actually changed. They spent all their money getting to DC, and now they're too poor to get out.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

I live in NoVa and would like to move to the district, but I none of the neighborhoods that I can afford seem safe. I parked at a friends place at 11th and Mass to spend the night and had my car broken into. Nothing stolen -- nothing in there to steal. But $200 in deductible and a week waiting for the glass shop to get a replacement window for my car. (This was February, by the way, I was freezing my butt off.)

Arlington is a nice compromise.

Crime is very much any part of the Greater DC Area. There have been murders in Arlington too. I think the issue is making juveniles, as the Wash Post pointed out in the Friday edition - pay the adult price for their crime. Even if the death penalty.

In the DC youth there seems to be an attitude that they will be "free and clear" at 21yo. Regardless of their crimes. Slit the throat of some one protecting a female friend from a possible rape -if you are under 18yo, then you get a "pass". Get out of jail at 21yo.

I am sorry, but if you can commit robbery, attempted/actual rape, and murder (by slit someone's throat) then you should be willing to face the needle. Or better yet the electric chair!



I agree that a lot of white people are trying to rent/own where a lot of black people happen to live, but I fail to see the connection to MLK. The main problem is that for a lot of years, money was fleeing urban centers; now, money is moving back, and it wants that land which used to be so cheap. This is happening all over the country, DC is just particularly bad.[/QUOTE]

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

I live in NoVa and would like to move to the district, but I none of the neighborhoods that I can afford seem safe. I parked at a friends place at 11th and Mass to spend the night and had my car broken into. Nothing stolen -- nothing in there to steal. But $200 in deductible and a week waiting for the glass shop to get a replacement window for my car. (This was February, by the way, I was freezing my butt off.)

Arlington is a nice compromise.

Crime is very much any part of the Greater DC Area. There have been murders in Arlington too. I think the issue is making juveniles, as the Wash Post pointed out in the Friday edition - pay the adult price for their crime. Even if the death penalty.

In the DC youth there seems to be an attitude that they will be "free and clear" at 21yo. Regardless of their crimes. Slit the throat of some one protecting a female friend from a possible rape -if you are under 18yo, then you get a "pass". Get out of jail at 21yo.

I am sorry, but if you can commit robbery, attempted/actual rape, and murder (by slit someone's throat) then you should be willing to face the needle. Or better yet the electric chair!

Keep in mind this is coming from the MR Liberal poster child! Cruel and unusual punishment? Why should a murderer be allowed a "peaceful" passing, when they caused so much pain to their victims? For if we are to have the death penalty - then forget the condemned - remember the slain.

Then maybe the youth of DC would think twice before they commit murder.

 

[dsyntax]

wow

But he did encourage a lot of blacks to converge in DC and the surrounding area to fight for civil rights. But they didn't think about what happens after. Once the fight was over and they got their civil rights... turns out not all that much actually changed. They spent all their money getting to DC, and now they're too poor to get out.

Um ... are you suggesting that the African-American polulation of DC (60% of the city) is here because they got stranded after MLK's march on Washington, and the relative poverty of much of the city is the result of 1960's transportation costs?

Be that as it may, what do you mean that African-Americans in the 1960's should have thought "about what happens after." After what? These were people fighting for basic equality.

Crime is very much any part of the Greater DC Area. There have been murders in Arlington too. I think the issue is making juveniles, as the Wash Post pointed out in the Friday edition - pay the adult price for their crime. Even if the death penalty.

In the DC youth there seems to be an attitude that they will be "free and clear" at 21yo. Regardless of their crimes. Slit the throat of some one protecting a female friend from a possible rape -if you are under 18yo, then you get a "pass". Get out of jail at 21yo.

I am sorry, but if you can commit robbery, attempted/actual rape, and murder (by slit someone's throat) then you should be willing to face the
needle. Or better yet the electric chair!

Ok, we can talk about the death penalty in general if you like, but beyond that its certainly wrong to treat juvenile offenders as adults. In so many ways we as a society acknowledge that the minds of teens are still evolving and they should not be fully responsible for many parts of life adults are. This means that juveniles are not granted certain rights (driving, voting, drinking, etc.) but they should also not held as culpable for their transgressions because of their still-developing brains. It is certainly unfair to say that a 14 year-old should be treated as an adult in the criminal justice system but that he is not mature enough to make decisions about drinking or his own employment.

And let's be honest: no 16 year-old who murders someone is going free at 21, thats a huge exaggeration. Juveniles are dealt with differentently from adults in many justive systems, but it is certainly not that extreme.

Moreover, the Supreme Court has basically rendered the death penalty part of this discussion moot in Roper v. Simmons.



I find the recent spike in crime very troubling, but I think it supercedes both the severity of punishment and the current moderate gentrification occuring in DC. The city has been a crime haven for a long, long time, and while it had been improving recently, the last few weeks show that much work has to be done. It is not as simple as "Whites are moving in so the blacks aregetting mad."

 

[DZ/015]

The answer to this problem is simple. Lift the gun ban that is in place on law-abiding citizens.

 

[ReanimationLP]

Heh.

And here, I live behind Pioneer City.

But no murders have happened that I've known about since I moved here in May.

And they say Pioneer City is supposed to be D.C, Baltimore, and LA all rolled into one and multiplied by 4 times.

 

[QCassidy352]

Take a tour: Georgetown and NW DC and then go to Anacostia - its not pretty.

I'm a relatively recent transplant to DC, but I have a friend who lived here his whole life before college. He said, "you don't cross the anacostia river - ever. Not even in a car, not ever." I knew another guy who worked at the naval base on the anacostia river, and he said that even the soldiers going to the base would get off the Metro and run to the base. They called it "the anacostia sprint." And these were young soldiers in a group.

I think the issue is making juveniles, as the Wash Post pointed out in the Friday edition - pay the adult price for their crime.

I agree with you about making these kids serve adult sentences. Rape is an adult crime, murder is an adult crime, drug trafficking is an adult crime, carrying guns is an adult crime. If you're adult enough to commit these crimes, you're adult enough to pay the penalty. I disagree about the death penalty, though. I'm categorically against it. But a 20+ year prison sentence, even for a 14 year old? Absolutely.

its certainly wrong to treat juvenile offenders as adults.

Bull. These are hardened felons. Did you read the article I linked in the first post? Some of these "kids" have been arrested for felonies 3, 4, 6, 10 times by the time they're 15. They know exactly what they're doing; they just don't care. Let them out and they're right back to the gangs and the streets, right back to sticking guns in people's faces for $5.

And let's be honest: no 16 year-old who murders someone is going free at 21, thats a huge exaggeration. Juveniles are dealt with differentently from adults in many justive systems, but it is certainly not that extreme.

Probably a murderer is not going to get out (though he well could), but a rapist, an armed robber, a drug runner? Yes, they absolutely will be out by 21. Getting locked up is a joke to these kids; they're back out before you can blink.

The answer to this problem is simple. Lift the gun ban that is in place on law-abiding citizens.

The problem here is that these criminals are so poor, so desperate, and so numbed to violence that they don't see any way out except a life of crime. Solutions such as more police on the streets and innocent people carrying guns may deter crime in some instances, but real change would require a much more systemic approach.

This war needs to be fought in both the short and long terms. First, there need to be many more police on the streets, especially in bad neighborhoods and at peak-crime times. There also need to be very serious "adult" sentences for all violent felons, no matter their age.

Second, there needs to structural change. That means a lot more money pumped in to DC in general and bad areas in particular (just look what the Verizon Center has done to Chinatown) and massive education reform so that these "hopeless" youths see themselves as having options other than crime.

Too often these positions get misrepresented - we can acknowledge that we need social change without excusing individual felons. Let's lock up the criminals of today, but stop the criminals of tomorrow from ever developing.