> They aren’t taking responsibility at all.
> Taking responsibility would mean supporting the police efforts to arrest criminals
Yeah, that’s a small part of it. What they are actually doing is no different to what we try to do as Guardian Angels — except they’ve missed out the “or else whup-ass-and-citizen’s-arrest” bit which we also do (if we must). That can come later. But, baby-steps-are-best, as they say.
It *is* “taking responsibility” by organizing block parties and getting to know your neighbors and their kids. In fact, it is a brilliant way to deter crime. Everyone get to know everyone. And if there is a crack house in the neighborhood, make sure everyone knows about it. How much easier will it be to send the cops to the right place if you know where the punk lives?
Neighborhood rebuilding: important first step because crime takes over where there is no sense of “neighborhood”: it becomes “turf”. So the neighborhood needs to be rebuilt. A Neighborhood Watch can grow from that. Or an unarmed Safety Patrol such as what we do as Guardian Angels.
But it is an excellent beginning. Much better than having people cowering behind their curtains at nite, afraid to go out in the dark.
> Since when is it “Conservative” to have a barbecue for the local thugs?
I’d say that’s pretty dam’n smart strategy. In what other setting can you (reasonably safely) get their names and where they live and who they hang out with? From an Intel viewpoint it’s bloody brilliant.
Done properly you could probably even get their photos. How? Well, they said they bring Rappers to these parties. Just make sure you invite a fairly famous Rapper, and have a camera ready. The rest takes care of itself.
On the basis of that barbecue alone you could produce a criminal road-map of the entire neighborhood, stretching out for many blocks. Maybe even with mug shots.
If other groups were doing similarly, then by sharing Intel you would have an amazingly valuable resource: something not even the cops would be likely to have.
And all it cost was a couple burgers.
If it’s Conservative to be “smart” then that’s definitely Conservative.
When, exactly, do we get to the "later" part?
How high does the body count have to climb (100+ this year), how many children have to be involved in prostitution (Oakland is a hub for child prostitution), how many innocent people have to be robbed in takeover restaurant robberies (lost track of the number) until we can get tough?
A lot of people simply feel we've hit the "later" part already. Oakland has been a crime-ridden hellhole for a long time.
We've been trying this "feel good" / community-centered approach for decades. It was tried, and failed, during the initial crack boom.
We have an under-funded and under-staffed police department that's handcuffed with political correctness, a corrupt city council, and an ineffective mayor.
Throwing money away on crap that doesn't directly reduce crime or increase academic performance - such as parties, barbecues, and "music-recording weekends" - is a supreme waste of money, time, talent and resources.
Batons to the head, not burgers down the hole.
From an Intel viewpoint it’s bloody brilliant.
You're telling me a mini thug will go thru an interrogation and be photographed... for a burger?
Must be one helluva burger.
If it’s Conservative to be “smart” then that’s definitely Conservative.
I'll take the "dumb" solution: flood the streets with cops.