I hope a lot of people come and tell MPD to stop tollerating the illegal parking, double parking, drinking in public, etc and take the pro-active approach to addressing crime. Lets face it the people committing these crimes live here or come here to see people who live here and until they are made to feel uncomfortable they will stay here. Once they get tired of getting tickets for double parking while they go for a quick visit, or get arrested for drinking in public they will move or go somewhere else.

@Take5 – What you are describing is the “broken windows” theory of policing – enforce minor violations of the law to prevent major violations from occuring. Unfortunately, there’s not a snowball’s chance in that-place-where-snowball’s-can’t-exist that it will ever happen here. There is way too much race-baiting to be done for any elected official to support that kind of enforcement effort. The white members of the City Council willl never suggest it because they don’t want to be called racist. The black members of the City Council will never suggest it because they don’t want to be called sell outs. So what you are left with is the usual response to each shooting – public anger and outrage by the politicians; and a police car and/or mobile light truck parked at the scene of each shooting after the fact for a few days until the memory fades or is replaced with that of another shooting.
I’m not sure if I will attend the meeting but I do plan to make my voice heard by writing not just my councilmember but all of the councilmembers and the Mayor. I encourage everyone who is interested to do the same.

I’ll go ahead and second what Marcus Aurelius said but add a touch of liberal guilt for the white members and a healthy dose of fear of losing control of the patronage networks that keep them in office for the black members.

I would also imagine that the ministers who are working so hard against marriage equality would also fight a tougher stance on crime. Anything to keep the status quo!

This is the disappointing reality we have to live with

Why have a meeting? Let me save some time…all in favor of crime and violence in DC? 1…2…3…10,489. All opposed…1…2…3…4… 588,342.

tell your elected representatives that the in-person meetings MUST STOP NOW. If they can’t accommodate different work schedules or people who care for kids and the elderly then they need to be voted out and replaced by someone who can. I’ve told Jim Graham this many times.

ProfChris Says:
October 26th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Corey Booker has done it in Newark.

Really? Newark is roughly half the size of DC and has roughly half the murders. Newark, like DC, Baltimore, Detroit, ATL, New Orleans, is majority black. There is not one safe black city in the country.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/newark_man_gunned_down_while_d.html

“Last night’s slaying is the 58th homicide in the city this year, compared to 53 at this time in 2008, Henderson said.”

Or how about this:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/convicted_felon_wanted_for_new.html
Authorities are asking for the public’s help in locating a Newark man who they say was one of the gunmen in Tuesday’s shootout that left a 4-year-old girl caught in the crossfire injured.

Last month, a 62-year-old grandmother and her 21-year-old granddaughter were shot at the same apartment complex after getting caught in a gun battle between rival gangs, according to family. Two men were arrested for that shooting, police said.

PS–is this city “majority black” now? Does that include black professionals, the President, the First Lady and daughters in that dangerous crowd. Our ward, One, has a plurality: neither yuppies, gays, Hispanic immigrants/US born, blacks (dangerous types and safe types) have no clear majority. It’s a poverty/hopeless/nihilism problem, with race being a determinant only because many black people in the city are indeed poor and hopeless, entrenched in a terrible cycle. Same might be said for certain folk–usually young men–in Hispanic communities.
I worked in Anne Arundel Co. Md, in W. Va, in NC in Upstate NY where there were and are white people who aren’t close to yuppies, Hill staffers, etc. Rather, they are like the ones you see on “Cops.” Same problems, though you see more alcohol related deaths, DUIs, domestic.

See, the council is so cluless as to whats going on. There are no gangs in DC. Robberies are occuring by adolesence in PG and Mo County. THey want to be so hard and prove themselves as gangsters. But they’re nothing but get-wits. There are no more turf wars, you just stay in your hood and i’ll stay in mine. Everyone is trying to survive. There is to much focus on making DC a bike friendly city and not enough focus on those who know no other way to live. Everyone talked about change during the presidential election, so we when are we going to make it happen