Under siege, a St. Paul neighborhood needs answers

pioneer press ^ | 8-15-13 | Ruben Rosario

[TurboZamboni]

Fearing one day an errant bullet might strike her home, Constance's kids no longer watch the TV or play video games in the main-level living room. They are upstairs, hopefully away from the line of fire. Roving bands of youths congregate near the home her grandparents have owned for more than 80 years, brazenly blocking traffic or daring motorists to hit them.

Constance, who lives near the site where a 26-year-old man was brutally beaten by a gang of thugs Aug. 4 in St. Paul's Payne-Phalen neighborhood, feels as if she's living in Baghdad or Damascus, not in the Saintly City.

She has witnessed neighbors' doors and windows knocked down or broken by burglars who take off with TVs and other valuables. Other homes have been stripped of copper wiring. A few weeks ago, the single mother's 9-year-old son, shooting hoops at a nearby park, was roughed up by a group of juveniles for no reason.

The response to her calls to police about the gunfire and break-ins demoralized her to the point she no longer bothers to dial 911.

[Darksheare]

Well, my surplus M8 greyhound just kinda kept rolling over the screaming speedbumps that swarmed the road you see...

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Oddly enough, there is one technique that seems to work in these areas, though you have to wonder if the cure is worse than the disease.

“Reverend” Farrakhan (at least used to) have a small army of big men, who would wear suits, entering neighborhoods to drive out the street gangs and drug dealers. They were not obviously armed, but the message was clear. Neither gang bangers nor drug dealers wanted to mess with an organization that large. For the most part they are cowards, and will leave instead of confront.

It was pretty effective as a “soft sell” campaign to recruit followers. And they could not be accused of racism, such as if the police did it.