The frustration is running pretty deep out there on the streets these days.
It’s frustration that bubbles over into violence, often against the weak, often with little or no reason.
It’s violence that knows no boundaries like race or age but seems focused on some of our poorer neighborhoods.
And that fuels another frustration. We seem to be powerless against it; a rising tide of unrest able to easily outpace our solutions to stop it.
It is against that backdrop in which Mayor Joe Sinnott held a news conference this week to announce beefed up patrols in “hot” neighborhoods, places where police respond more often for violent offenses.
The political side of the Mayor realizes that citizens want something done, despite a police force understaffed for a city this size.
The human side of the Mayor grieves the inability, despite his command, to stop kids from leaving a little girl shattered on a playground, or stop a beating that left a 28-year old man clinging to life on ventilation with a fractured skull.
The Mayor isn’t the only one grasping for answers.
Could rising gas prices be causing part of the turmoil, raising the cost of just about everything to the point where those who start with little are left with nothing?
How much fault do educational systems bear in not following through enough to recognize at-risk kids on the brink of disaster?
Are social service agencies providing enough for people in the face of dwindling dollars?
Are churches doing enough to keep the peace?
How much blame should be placed on the fact that there isn’t much “nuclear” left in the once “nuclear family?”
I respect what the Mayor is trying to do, really.
People want calm and the City will do what it can with what it has to protect and to serve.
But the frustrations that are raising temperatures on the street won’t be solved in a blanket of blue.
Spend any time out there and you’ll soon realize:
It’s deeper than that.
Comments (1)
Scott, I've got a thread on this subject going on over at 'What If?' on the GlobalErie website. It seems to be a lot of folks are worried to see the level of violence that has overtaken our city. I agree that the Mayor and Police Dept. are doing what they can here, with the limited resources at their disposal. I think the brunt of the blame must fall on the lack of parenting, or lack of parents. Period.
Just being poor does not mean that one must fall into the roll of victim. The choice to do right or wrong falls on the individual. And yes, a ten year old girl is old enough to know the difference.
What are the churches to do, more than they already do? Most don't have the finances to make a lot of difference, with so many needing help. Preach? Counsel? You can offer, but again it's up to the individual to avail themselves of the help available.
Yes, the problems run very deep, but when the violence that is just beginning starts to affect innocent people the way it is now, the city must act to protect it's citizens. If the Police Dept. doesn't have the manpower, why not deputize the Sheriff's Dept to help out? Hey, Fast Eddie sent the Pa. National Guard into Philadelphia to quell the unrest a while ago, why not here? Let's get the violence under control, and then do some brain-storming to come up with programs that work.
Dale Hannah
dale@globalerie.com
Posted by Dale | April 30, 2008 11:18 PM
Posted on April 30, 2008 23:18