Posted on 07/17/2007 5:36:40 AM PDT by new cruelty
When Mayor Street spent 15 hours waiting in line for an iPhone recently, the city was not impressed by his love of new technology. Rather, Street had to answer to a passerby asking, "How can you sit here with 200 murders in the city already?"
Local politicians say they know the source of the problem: the lack of gun control. Gov. Rendell recently complained the state legislature "has been in the control of the NRA." Street blames the increasing murder rate on "the dangerous proliferation of guns on our city streets." Last Tuesday, two City Council members announced the novel legal tactic of suing the state government to let Philadelphia pass its own gun laws.
The desire "to do something" is understandable, but new gun laws aren't the answer.
In the five years from 2001 to 2006, Philadelphia's murder rate soared more than 36 percent while nationally, the murder rate increased only 2 percent. Indeed, only two other cities in the top 40 experienced a sharper rise in murder rates, according to FBI crime statistics.
But if the cause of more murders in Philadelphia is the lack of yet more gun control, why isn't murder increasing in the rest of Pennsylvania? Pittsburgh saw just a 7 percent increase.
Why haven't murder rates gone up in the rest of the country? Should Phoenix, the city closest in size to Philadelphia, claim that its murder rate remained virtually unchanged for the last five years because of the supposed lack of new gun control? How should Dallas explain its 24 percent drop in murder?
It is not that guns are more likely to be used in Philadelphia murders, either. The proportion of murders involving guns is similar to that of other cities.
It would appear that Philadelphia's problems have something to do with Philadelphia, not the lack of more gun control coming out of Washington or Harrisburg.
Could it be that Philadelphia simply isn't doing such a great job at law enforcement? Since 2001, Philadelphia's arrest rate for murder has fallen by 20 percent, according to the Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Reporting System. Nationally, and among cities with more than 250,000 people, arrest rates have remained virtually unchanged. It isn't so surprising that Philly's murder rate has gone up more than in other cities. After all, criminals are getting away with murder in Philadelphia.
Sure, Philadelphia has slightly fewer police than it had in 2001, but that drop is no different from the small drop that has occurred nationally. What is different is that Philadelphia has experienced a significant drop in arrests per officer relative to the rest of the country.
But it is not just a problem of police. The city is seeing lower conviction rates, and it is not keeping criminals in jail for very long. One could make up for this difference by hiring more police - research has shown the number of police officers to be the main factor in reducing crime. But Philadelphia's problem is how it uses the police it has.
Pointing to more gun-control laws as the solution is simply a way for politicians to pass the blame. Besides, such proposals offer little hope for actually reducing the murder rate. They've all been tried before, from one-gun-a-month limits and reporting stolen guns to the ultimate catchall - letting Philadelphia pass its own gun laws again.
Take the law that seems to be Rendell's favorite: the one-gun-a-month purchase rule. It would reduce the number of gun shows in the state by about 25 percent and shut some stores. But since just a fraction of one percent of criminals with guns get their weapons at gun shows, there would be few benefits from those restrictions. Collectors or those who might legitimately want to get more than one gun at a time are the ones who are inconvenienced. In fact, no published academic study by criminologists or economists shows that such limits reduce violent crime.
The sooner local politicians stop playing politics in the state Capitol and realize that the problem lies in the city's low rate of solving crimes, the sooner the problem will be under control. After all, Philadelphia's current gun laws are similar to those of many others around the country.
What is not the same? In Philadelphia, criminals are less likely to answer for their crimes.
Philly is more dangerous than Baghdad, it’s truly a ‘quagmire’. We should pull out now and let the local ‘insurgents’ fight it out amongst themselves.
Amen to your post.
I once heard the mayor tell a group of 14 year old boys that the problem with gun violence will not change until THEY decide it is time to make a change. I was surprised to hear those words come out of his mouth. The funny thing about it was that he looked both ways and covered a side of his mouth as if to jokingly make sure no one else heard him say it. Unimpressed, the boys were more concerned about when their youth program was going to get computers.
By John Lott and Maxim Lott
My initial reaction too. Until I looked at the byline. Must have hurt to press the "Enter" key on that one. :o
Well in Orlando, where I live, the murder rate has skyrocketed, due in large part to light sentences for repeat offenders. We’re averaging about a murder every day and a half, but the media has stopped reporting on the total numbers here. It’s a tourist destination!
There was a shootout downtown again last night. A couple of weeks ago there was a shootout in broad daylight and a 14 yo innocent bystander got shot.
About the same time a 14 yo girl led police on a high speed chase in a stolen car. It was her SIXTH time getting caught stealing a car.
BUMP
The Crime-Stopping-Business doesn't make any money off of gang bangers and "poor" repeat offenders.
Sounds like they got a mickey mouse operation over there.
I may be wrong, but I think a lot, or most of the New Orleans “thugs” were forced out of Dallas.
I think the drop of 24% just takes the rate back to normal.
Again I could be wrong.
I think its a small percentage of scum doing the crime. They just keep doing it over and over. Why should they stop? There are no consequences.
Philadelphia is run by ghetto trash and lawyers. To hell with the Mexican border fence — we need a fence around Philadelphia.
Yeah, I think it was a white girl, but not sure about the upperclass part.
It is a small percentage doing the crimes. Heck, we’ve had two cops get shot in shootouts here this year. Both times the orange county sheriff said now he’s “really going to get tough on crime and no more mr. nice guy.”
A friend of mine got shot in his front yard in a drive by. Cops show up and go through their list of who got out of jail recently and sure enough, a known banger type got out just a couple days before and his address listed was only a few blocks away. They picked the perp up in less than an hour and he confessed, saying he actually “meant to shoot someone else” and that it was a case of mistaken identity. He was sentenced to two years for that, out in less, and robbed a bank 2 weeks after getting out.
You forgot the concert.
Orlando has a huge immigrant population and they list of countries they come from is long. Mainly, Guatamalan, Mexican, Brazilian, Ecuadoran, Chile and other south americans.
Philadelphia: soon-to-be Detroit on the Northeast Corridor.
Reading some of the previous posts, this sounds like New York during the Dinkins era, and before Giulianni. I was there.
- John
Um...no, they DON'T know the source of the problem. The real source of the problem:
Philadelphia is filled with murdering thugs. THAT is the problem. The best solution is just to shoot every one of the bastards in self-defense.
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