The ridiculous violence in N.O. (1 Viewer)

[Mr. Blue Sky]

To you it is sensationalized news stories and hyperbole. I knew the Dr. that was murdered on Dauphine. I have connections to other crimes that are just stories to you. Changes your perspective if a rolling firefight breaks out in an intersection on Carrollton 5 to 10 minutes after you drove through with your four year old. Or if a man is shot to death outside Mondo when you were just there with your elderly parents and other family members. You are in denial. The problem isn't sensationalized news stories. If anything the media miss most of the crime happening around town.
You don't have to believe me. That's fine. But I can tell things have changed for the worst.
And as to your last statement, I hope it never affects your friend or father. But it very well could.


Interesting that you go so far as to claim the 13 year old just made a mistake in killing the man on his front porch. You don't know that. Being an apologist for murderers will not help our situation here.

great post.. i think that a lot of people *are* in denial, and i think that to them this is all theoretical, but those people have simply been lucky.. all it takes is one 'wrong place/wrong time' moment and they will be victims themselves and changing their tune.. and the point is that those 'wrong place/wrong time' moments are becoming increasingly frequent all over New Orleans, and harder to avoid no matter where you live or play.. i have defended NOLA for a long time, but She's becoming harder and harder to defend.. i grew up in and around NOLA, and lived there until i was in my late 20s, but it took living in other places to realize that it's *not* normal to have to take the precautions and live with the fears that you have in NOLA.. there are some fantastic trade-offs to living in NOLA and dealing wth those issues, but it's still a major turn-off for many people.. yes, it's all anecdotal and i don't have a link, but i do know people who have been touched by this and they aren't just statistics.

 

[Dre]

I was looking up statistics, and Minneapolis has by far the highest rape rate. Just going to tuck that one away in case a Vikings fan tries to insult our city for being the murder capital.

 

[Zack Lee]

I was looking up statistics, and Minneapolis has by far the highest rape rate. Just going to tuck that one away in case a Vikings fan tries to insult our city for being the murder capital.

no means no?

 

[BHM]

2/3 of prisoners in Louisiana are serving sentences for nonviolent offenses.

I cited this piece the other day in a thread on the PDB based on a T-P article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/26/opinion/blow-plantations-prisons-and-profits.html

included are the following facts:

We also lead the nation in poverty. I am not sure how much this affects our incarceration rates.

 

[boutte]

Curbing the violence in New Orleans will never happen because the solutions to said violence would insult the politically correct sensibilities of too many people in New Orleans.

A man is shot in the face while holding his baby in broad daylight. No marches, no outcry form the reverends or community leaders. However, if a black man stopped on the street without probable cause to be "shaked down" by the NOPD and is found to have a weapon while on parole, well, then it's 1965 all over again. This is an injustice to the black community. Now we're talking marches on city hall.

Do you see the difference? Things will never change as long as the guilty are protected, if not celebrated. The victims are forgotten, if not swept under the rug before a tourist sees them.

And the people at the party were reportedly not co-operating with the police. Schools parents and police all factor into the equation but the only thing that is going to really turn the tide is for the community step up and take action to change the culture. The people at this party and the people in the neighborhood know who did this and why. But they're not going to tell the police. Eventually somebody will seek retribution and we'll be reading about another murder. It's like a tribal mentality.

You can't expect the individuals in these communities to change it themselves, they don't have the power to do it alone and if they did someone would probably kill them. I do believe it's possible to turn it around and break the cycle but neither local, state or federal authorities have the resolve or even the desire to commit the time and resources required. They'd rather spend the money on another aircraft carrier or develop a new super fighter that doesn't work.

Our priorities are just out of whack.

 

[bozoka45]

We also lead the nation in poverty. I am not sure how much this affects our incarceration rates.

Are you suggesting there's a connection between poverty and incarceration?

 

[bclemms]

It is far from just New Orleans. Hell, I can argue (and probably win) that the murder rate is higher per capital in a 20 mile radius from my house in rural Mississippi than New Orleans.

This is stuff in the last two years in this area.

Double murder in Terry, Ms
Double murder in Terry - WLBT.com - Jackson, MS

Second double homicide in Terry.
Proceedings sealed in double homicide - Times Union

Murder suicide in Crystal Springs.
Crystal Springs man found dead, mother missing - WLBT.com - Jackson, MS

Murder in Crystal Springs
Crystal Springs woman dead after weekend stabbing | Crime | Copiah County News

Murder in Crystal Springs last week
Man arrested in connection with deadly home invasion | Local News - WAPT Home

Missing woman believed to have been abducted a few weeks ago in Crystal Springs
Missing woman's stepson contacts WLBT - WLBT.com - Jackson, MS

about a month ago another woman was killed by her neice and two friends in Crystal Springs, Ms because she had some cash in her house.

woman murdered and body found in motel in Hazlehurst, Ms a few weeks ago
Woman's body found in Hazlehurst motel room - WLBT.com - Jackson, MS

Man killed last year in copiah county
Arrest made in Copiah County murder - WLBT.com - Jackson, MS

Woman killed between Crystal Springs and Hazlehurst last month.
Copiah County Murder : powered by Fox 40 WDBD, Jackson, Miss.

Double homicide in southern hinds county a few miles from my house last year
Double homicide in Hinds Co. | Video Library | The Clarion-Ledger

Man murdered last year in Byram
Byram Man Charged With Murder | WJTV

Last year we had a clerk shot and killed in a robbery of a gas station in Crystal SPrings.

Also had a clerk shot and killed in Gallman, Ms last year.

A Frito Lay delivery man was robbed, beaten and left for dead in Gallman last year. He survived but will never make a full recovery.


We are talking about an area with a population of about 20,000 here not hundreds of thousands or millions.

 

[BHM]

Are you suggesting there's a connection between poverty and incarceration?

Yes, I am.



Here is something else.


Top four states with highest percentage African American population...

Mississippi
Louisiana
Georgia
Maryland


Top four state with highest incarceration rates...

Louisiana
Georgia
Texas
Mississippi


Natioanally, the incarceration rate for whites is 412 and for blacks it is 2290 per 100,000. Now I do not want to suggest anything about these numbers. They are what they are for whatever reason. I am not suggesting that blacks are more prone to crime.

Based on national incarceration rates by race, it would follow that states with higher black population would also have higher incarceration rates. I point this out to show that there are many other factors other than private prisons for the high rate in Louisiana. Education, ethic makeup, income levels and other demographics all come into play.



I will agree that regardless of why there are so many locked up, skill training needs to be improved. Locking up so many in cells will not solve much. There are thousands of state vehicles including cars, trucks, atvs and construction equipment. Our prison system should be in charge of repairing and maintaining these vehicles. It could save the state millions and give job training to thousands.

Thousands of government owned buildings and blighted properties could be repaired and maintained by prisoners. They would learn valuable skills such as plumbing, electrical, HVAC and carpentry.

List of U.S. states by African-American population - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Mass Incarceration: Breaking Down the Data by State « Prison Law Blog

http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_stateratesofincbyraceandethnicity.pdf

 

[You]

Question and comment:
Does a street level drug dealer make more than a clerk at walmart or other minimum wage type job?

One thing I think we can all agree on is that a poor, uneducated black person who commits a crime is just as guilty and deserves the same level of punishment as a wealthy, educated white person who commits the same crime.

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

I will second Boutte's comments above.

A problem is the prevalence of guns in our society, but for several reasons, that is not going to change.

I earlier talked about the absence of social capital, whether it be witnesses afraid to come forward or city council members boycotting meetings.

It is totally about the culture and a tribal mentality. And it is about lack of resources. We need a concerted state-federal effort. Violent crime at this time is as big a threat to the future of the community as political corruption. And the DA needs to throw everything at violent crime and career criminals. He may be doing this in large part already, but I would throw everything I have at career criminals, murders, armed robberies and house burglaries.

And somebody has to start talking about the frequency with which juries in Orleans Parish acquit.

 

[krushing]

I will second Boutte's comments above.

A problem is the prevalence of guns in our society, but for several reasons, that is not going to change.

I earlier talked about the absence of social capital, whether it be witnesses afraid to come forward or city council members boycotting meetings.

It is totally about the culture and a tribal mentality. And it is about lack of resources. We need a concerted state-federal effort. Violent crime at this time is as big a threat to the future of the community as political corruption. And the DA needs to throw everything at violent crime and career criminals. He may be doing this in large part already, but I would throw everything I have at career criminals, murders, armed robberies and house burglaries.

And somebody has to start talking about the frequency with which juries in Orleans Parish acquit.

Every time there is a police crackdown In the neighborhoods where crime is the most prevalent, the folks in the neighborhood scream racism. Like we said earlier, the folks in those neighborhoods (especially males between 13 and 30) are going to have to expect to be searched and questioned because they are the ones killing people. It's really pretty simple if folks were willing to admit it. Neighbors need to encourage a crack down for a couple years and deal with some innocent folks getting questioned and searched. The people in those neighborhoods put themselves in that situation. Don't blame the police. They don't want to get shot by a 13 year old either. They have a family to go home to.

 

[drob8785]

Question and comment:
Does a street level drug dealer make more than a clerk at walmart or other minimum wage type job?

No.

The book Freakonomics has a really nice chapter on the economics of crack gangs. It's worth a read if you haven't read it yet.

One of the authors, Steven Levitt, has given a nice TED talk on this topic:
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5UGC2nLnaes" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

Every time there is a police crackdown In the neighborhoods where crime is the most prevalent, the folks in the neighborhood scream racism. Like we said earlier, the folks in those neighborhoods (especially males between 13 and 30) are going to have to expect to be searched and questioned because they are the ones killing people. It's really pretty simple if folks were willing to admit it. Neighbors need to encourage a crack down for a couple years and deal with some innocent folks getting questioned and searched. The people in those neighborhoods put themselves in that situation. Don't blame the police. They don't want to get shot by a 13 year old either. They have a family to go home to.

Well that's exactly why we need to start pushing decriminalization of small amounts of drugs for personal use.

Maybe people would feel a bit more comfortable with police profiling random people in their neighborhood if they didn't have to worry about being charged with a felony for carrying around a small amount of drugs.

But I know right - "Just tell them not to carry around drugs and they won't have anything to worry about." But that isn't realistic. I think people would be a lot more accepting of an aggressive police presence if they themselves didn't have to worry about being charged with a serious crime for something that isn't hurting anyone else.

There needs to be a little bit of a give and a take. Compromise. If we as a city want the population to feel safe dealing with the police in their neighborhoods, then there needs to be some type of genuine effort to make that happen.

 

[RazorOye]

Neighbors need to encourage a crack down for a couple yars and deal with some innocent folks getting questioned and searched.

it's already been going on. For more than a couple of years. Do you think it's fixing the problem?

When I was working with the incarcerated kids, the most optimistic one talked about his future in the following terms:

he was a first time offender who served 29 days locked up for a crime he was innocent of. But not after he served a month. During that month, he was expelled from school. One day, he was in the facility's classroom - run by the parish. The next day? "You need to leave the classroom - you've been expelled from your school and we can no longer teach you."

He was sent to the GED computer lab, wondering what happened - neither he nor his aunt/guardian (his mother died when he was in 8th grade and his father was a truck driver still in his life, as were his two older brothers - role models and employed full time) were given an explanation.

His expectations went from graduating high school to going to a college like his brother was cast into doubt. He begin to speak ambiguously about his future.

"Maybe I'll go to Job Corps and hopefully learn a trade. I don't know what I can do as a dropout though."

He wanted to stay in school, but the choice was not his.

When I asked him about what he envisioned in his life - he said he wanted a good job. He was a decent student, hard worker. Wanted to be married.

And he wanted to live in a house that was "last on the cop's list."

I asked him what he meant by that -

"Cops come to everybody's house and kick in the doors. I don't do drugs and I don't wanna do drugs. And I don't wanna sell drugs. I don't want that kind of life. So when they come to my neighborhood, I don't want them to have reason to have to beat down my door. So I want to be last on their list."

He didn't see a scenario where police didn't come to his door. Even being innocent, he expected to have his door kicked in. His best hope? Not to have the police not enter his house. His best hope was that he'd be last.

For it was a matter of eventuality, not potentiality.

Does that sound like privacy? or freedom? Or liberty? We should be trying to work out solutions to social problems while also considering that liberty/freedom in the balance of our considerations.

But we don't

When you have a private corporation dictating - to the state - that they maintain 90% occupancy so that the company remains profitable, that's a clear indication that the purpose is not to reduce crime. It's not to lessen the burden on facilities. It's not to ease the pressure on taxpayers.

it's blatant commodification - that's not liberty. That's neoliberality.

This is part of the neighborhood he's lived in, grown up in. It's been happening for more than a couple of years.

It's not working.

It's time for something else.

We're imprisoning more people in this country than anyone else on earth.

It's not working.

It's time for something else.

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

I agree we are putting too many in prison.

Oye, you make excellent points. But what is the asnswer. Admittedly, the solutions or responses are both short-term and long-term. But what is the answer.