Posted on 01/16/2005 2:16:35 AM PST by freepatriot32
OSTON, Jan. 15 - In Boston, a witness to a shooting by a member of a street gang recently found copies of his grand jury testimony taped to all the doors in the housing project where he lives.
In Baltimore, Rickey Prince, a 17-year-old who witnessed a gang murder and agreed to testify against the killer, was shot in the back of the head a few days after a prosecutor read Mr. Prince's name aloud in a packed courtroom.
And in each city, CD's and DVD's titled "Stop Snitching" have surfaced, naming some people street gangs suspect of being witnesses against them and warning that those who cooperate with the police will be killed. To underscore its message, the Baltimore DVD shows what appears to be three dead bodies on its back cover above the words "snitch prevention."
These are only a few examples of what the police, prosecutors and judges say is a growing national problem of witness intimidation by youth gangs that in some cities is jeopardizing the legal system and that bears striking similarities to the way organized crime has often silenced witnesses.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Hmm I wonder if this same prosecutor came into a large grocery sack of non sequential and unmarked 100 dollar bills right afterwords
I'd never testify to a gang hit. They can threaten me with prison but I wouldn't testify. There's no way the authorities can protect you and the accused has the right to confront his accuser in court. Its even worse than the mob. These guys play for keeps.
Seems to me what their dooing has worked on you...
In so doing, you will allow our own domestic terrorist thugs to win.
Let 'em come for me. They'll get way more than they bargained for.
Its not that I wouldn't want to see the bad guys put away. Its that I'm not sure my testimony would help. They still manage to beat the system. So if the government wants people to step forward it has to show its willing to put the gangs out of business. Right now all its efforts amount to putting a finger in the dyke. Please excuse me if I value my life more than than the government seems to value the lives of law-abiding citizens.
There is a very easy way to solve this whole problem.Thats for the goverments to recognise the 2cd amendment and "allow" the peopel to carry guns with them. Then maybe instead of witnessing a gang murder they can actually stop it before it happens so there would be no need to testify against gang members in court and if youdid need to you can defend yourself against them on the street if they harrass you about it.But that wont happen anytime soon becasue if there is a reduction in gangs there is a reduction in corrupt cops and pD.A.s income. THAT is why there are so many illegal and unconstitutional anti gun laws on the books.
Do you live in a gang-infested neighborhood? For folks living there, the government might as well be on the moon. And help for potential witnesses is few and between. It will take more than a series of scattershot measures to adequately address the scope of the problem.
You made a number of excellent points. And the authorities wonder why the public is disinterested and uncooperative. The justice system needs to be cleaned up as much as the gangs.
Our pop culture sympathizes way too much with criminals that have long personal histories involved in crime. If a felon has more than three convictions, he or she is irrecoverable for society and should be locked up for life (but it should only be *real* felonies, not equivalent misdemeaners).
Execution of any lethal crime while a member of a gang should carry the death penalty automatically.
We must get serious about enforcing and respecting the law and stop this culture of tolerating deception that stems from the use of drugs and other illicit activities.
Untill then, we are merely sticking our fingers and toes into the over-stressed dike of law that barely holds back an ocean of crime.
Just my point. I felt like that unfortunate young man did. Will I live to see I made a difference? I strongly believe citizens should do their part but the government has to do its part as well.
This area needs a Guiliani type in there. He'd clean them out.
I would bet dollars to doughnuts that the place is a democrat area, run by democrats.
I agree w/ you on the gun issue, but I would also increse the use of the death penalty against murderers. These criminals must be made aware that there WILL be a price to pay for their actions, & they themselves will die if they kill someone else. We should use the death penalty MORE OFTEN against the worst of the worst. It would also be a great way to help eliminate the problem of prison overcrowding!
Just my humble personal opinion. In these days of free self-expression and cyber-communication, I have as much right as anyone to express my own personal opinion. Feel free to flame away, I wear asbestos underware.
Our legal system is almost useless when pitted against these gangs. All they do is play it like a fine violin.
I live near New Orleans, and problem of witness intimidation there has been frequently in the news. Also, Louisiana has 2nd Amendment friendly laws including concealed carry with which I am in total agreement. However, this does not seem to have any result. Hardly a day goes by without a report of gang related murder and it is mostly black on black, and drug/gang/turf related. The witnesses to these crimes live in the neighborhoods with the thugs. The modus is to isolate you on the street, and kill you and anyone near you with fully automatic weapons in a drive by shooting. They do not confront you "old west style", so whether you are packing heat or not does not matter. It is sad but I fully understand why the good citizens who unfortunately live in these bad neighborhoods do not want to sentence themselves to death.
I'm sure nobody would call you a coward if you weren't.
On the surface, that seems to make sense. But a smart gang will probably just kill you anyway, it's easier to just pop you than worry about how long you will be silent. Best bet is to go with the government.
There is a principal that "you never go to a gun fight without a gun". A similar principal is that "you never go to a gun fight if you don't have to go".
And finally, "you don't wait for a gun fight to come to you". You relocate so that surprise can never be on the side of your enemy. If it is important enough that you win, then you will abandon any necessity to "fight fair".
Violent crime is a local problem. Local police need to take the initiative and get it under control instead of passing the buck to the federal government.
Compare the number of policemen per thousand population, the length of prison sentences and executions and the reasons for differences between cities with gang problems and those without becomes obvious.
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