Posted on 12/26/2006 8:38:08 AM PST by kiriath_jearim
Christmas ought to be a time when people focus on what they can do to live in peace, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory said.
"Certainly, we need peace in the city of Cincinnati," he said Sunday.
That need was brought home with particular force on Saturday, when the city recorded its 82nd and 83rd homicides of the year, a modern record.
"It's terrible. It's tragic," Mallory said. "It's an unfortunate time in Cincinnati history."
The modern record was set in 1971, when the city recorded 81 homicides, the most recorded since records have been kept.
Last year, there were 79 homicides, with nearly 85 percent of the victims African American and 84 percent male.
Thirty-one of them were in their 20s, while 17 of them were even younger.
Those demographics are similar to those of this year's homicide victims, Mallory said.
"It's the same trend we see across the country," he said. "It's younger people, people involved in drugs or other illegal activity."
The city had 66 homicides in 2004, 75 in 2003 and 66 in 2002. The city's 82nd and 83rd homicides came just two days before the city celebrated the birth of the Prince of Peace.
The 82nd victim, Vaughn Acklin, 38, died at University Hospital on Saturday.
Emergency workers found Acklin suffering from a gunshot wound about 6:35 p.m. Thursday at 2274 Vine St. in Mount Auburn. They had responded to a report of a person shot.
Acklin and a second person, whose identity the Cincinnati Police Department has not released, were victims of a home invasion robbery.
Both victims jumped out of the third-floor apartment window to escape the robbers, and both were taken to University Hospital.
The 83rd victim, Joshua Harden, 19, was shot shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of Moosewood and Beekman streets in North Fairmount. He was pronounced dead a short time later at University Hospital.
On Christmas Eve, city police charged Antoine James, 19, of the 1700 block of Denham Street, North Fairmount, with murder in Harden's death.
The police department has done several things this year to address crime in general, including creation of its Vortex unit, Mallory said. Operation Vortex - begun in April as a response to a spate of murders in Over-the-Rhine - has engineered massive sweeps in that neighborhood, Walnut Hills and Price Hill, among other areas. In addition to the arrests, more than $37,000 and 64 guns have been seized, said Police Chief Tom Streicher.
The program takes a zero-tolerance approach to crime fighting, picking up people for even minor offenses. In the process, more criminals are caught, often carrying illegal drugs and/or guns.
The city has also called on the U.S. Department of Justice to prosecute more Cincinnati crimes, he said, and the department responded by adding a federal prosecutor to do just that.
Next year, the city plans to implement a program based on a plan credited with dramatically reducing homicides in Boston, Mass., in the 1990s, Mallory said.
"We're in the process of putting that together right now," he said.
But residents also must play a part, he said.
"What this comes down to is people's willingness to have a safe community," the mayor said. "That goes beyond reporting crime and being vigilant about what you see.
"It gets right to the people who are pulling the trigger. They have got to stop," he said.
Asked if gun control was a possible solution, Mallory said it's an issue that should be discussed.
"The proliferation of guns correlates to a proliferation of gun violence," he said.
"Ohio is notoriously bad for being a provider of guns to illegal gun markets because of the lax laws we have," he said.
Cincinnati is unwinnable -- we should pull out, now.
"The proliferation of guns correlates to a proliferation of gun violence," he said.
Historically I believe the opposite is true. I suspect the percentage of people who own guns in this country is just a fraction of what it was 60 years ago.
Actually, that's just an attempt to divert attention from the facts stated above. It's black people, black males specifically. Most of their victims are the same.
Put an end to the black criminal underclass. That would do more to end violence than any other single thing.
The proliferation of gun violence correlates to the proliferation of numbnut liberals running cities.
It would not be happening but for the fact that they chastened their cops after the rioting a few years back. Criminals know they can do what they want without consequence.
Had the local news on this morning. An SUV stolen. Cops gave chase. Driver of the stolen SUV got off two shots before crashing the car in to a chain link fence. Then he (first time the gender of the driver was mentioned) got out and fled the scene. Police are asking if anyone has information please contact, etc. etc. etc.
At no time was there any mention of the perp's race and/or approx. age and/or where he was headed when he hit the ground running and/or what he was wearing.
But if you have any information contact the police.
I believe the biggest single thing that would reduce this type of crime - would be to take extraordinary steps to restore the Black American Family. Keeping fathers with the mothers of their children, intact - in the sanctity of holy matrimony, would go farther than anything else society could do.
This is the biggest problem facing urban blacks today - fatherless sons.
Remember when the question "What did the suspect look like" was considered an essential piece of information in catching someone? How warped have we become?
I work in the welfare business. We have a mandate from the Feds to allocate a specific sum of money to advocate for "intact families". We will comply here by having workshops and discussion groups for single mothers. In many cases, the women know the fathers of their kids, see them often, and interact with them...but they don't marry them. Our goal is to show them the advantages of marriage for the kids.
Our "advocates for the poor", however, are accusing us of "forcing" poor "victims of domestic violence" to live with their "abusers". They actually tell us that at least 85% of women are "abused" by men.
This town is 6% black, but blacks comprise 65% of our clients here. Fatherless boys grow up SEVEN TIMES more likely than boys in married households to be on welfare, poor, or in prison. The figures are higher for black boys.
Pointing this out is "racist", of course.
Best wishes!
"- would be to take extraordinary steps to restore the Black American Family."
Agreed but before that would take, the culture as a whole has to be reformed.
Problem is, neither of those things can be done by those of us on the "outside".
"The proliferation of guns correlates to a proliferation of gun violence," he said. "
The proliferation of guns correlates to a proliferation of law enforcement"
or
The proliferation of guns correlates to a proliferation of successful selfdefense.
Perhaps allowing and encouraging Cincinnatians to pack heat would REDUCE the murder rate, Mr. Mallory?
It's a quagmire in Cincinatti.
"Next year, the city plans to implement a program based on a plan credited with dramatically reducing homicides in Boston, Mass., in the 1990s, Mallory said."
Well, it ain't working anymore in Boston! It's up to a 10-year high.
70 homicides as of the beginning of December compared to 66 during the same time last year. (Up to 72 as of 12/22.)
Last December, Mayor "Mumbles" Menino banned "Stop Snitching" t-shirts that encouraged gang members to keep mum after witnessing a crime. (That really helped, didn't it!)
http://www.fairfieldmirror.com/media/storage/paper148/news/2006/12/06/News/Boston.Homicide.Rates.Continue.To.Rise.In.2006-2526180.shtml?norewrite200612261448&sourcedomain=www.fairfieldmirror.com
It still is, sort of. Wanted suspects on our local news reports.
Whites are described as 6', 1## lbs, 3#-4#, white male.
Others are described as 6', 1## lbs, 3#-4#, male.
This isn't war and peace.
It is crime and drugs.
I think it is time for us to withdraw from Philly. Over 400 death due to murdered this year.
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