01 May 2008

May Already?
And to think we had a frost advisory the other night. Looks like the garden "newbies" made it OK. The squirrels are getting a bit "anxious", though...
With the advent of a new month, let's see how things are shaping up on the "beautiful" SOUTH side of our fair city.
At the beginning of every month (since 2004), I have provided our FWPD quadrant captain with "items of interest" in my particular area; items I think she'll find useful in keeping this part of the armpit of Fort Wayne from smelling any worse than it already does (plant lots of roses and lilacs to quell the stench). And I've gotten it down to a nice format after some trial and error...even including nice pictures.
Now I don't ask for one damn thing in return for doing this (same goes for all the CRIMESTOPPERS tips I provided over the years). I just want to see my area, an area which has SO damn much potential, from being flushed down the city's crapper and becoming just another ghetto in a second-rate city in the Midwest...that's all.
And whenever the captain tells me how much she appreciates what I do (and that she wishes MORE people did likewise), I just say: "Well, it's what I do", and "no problem" my way into the next month.
I will say I did get a very nice FWPD (S.E. quadrant) set of ceramic coasters two years ago for my involvement. Like I say: "It's what I do because SOMEONE has to do it". I sure ain't standing hip-deep in all this crap for any money, and certainly NOT for any glory. It just needs to be done.
With that said...
(Please note- all of this crap occurred within a THREE BLOCK radius of my house)
**
We had a total of THIRTY SIX control numbers (calls) generated by the FWPD for various things from traffic stops to loud music to vandalism to domestic disputes. Seems we're a tad "busier" than usual with this warmer weather. But you have to realize, that since none of these folks WORK, they've nothing to DO but beat the co-habitant of the crib, drive erratically, and trash things belonging to other people.
Talk about an UNTAPPED RESOURCE of cheap-ass LABOR (to repair roads, pick up trash, trim alley foliage, etc).
Here's a sample of more local activites:
**Boomcars - 287 that were LOUD ENOUGH to shake the house and make you get up and look...and too many were REPEAT offenders. The city loses a ton of money (monthly) by NOT nailing these perps.
**Speeders - More than 50 PER DAY, and with kids playing IN THE DAMN STREET (when a park is two blocks away), that's a disaster just waiting to happen. And the crotch-rocket riding contingent see fit to use our block as the "staging area" for local drag races.
Wish to hell I could set up bleachers and charge admission (unfortunately, that's against city ordinances) - I could get my 3 acres and house out by Harlan in NO TIME!
**One house at the other end of the block had a month-log "yard sale" (you're only allowed THREE days - 3 times a YEAR - total: NINE DAYS) had about 175 vehicles over. Wonder where he got all that stuff to fence...I mean SELL?He usually ONLY has under a hundred cars over...every damn month.
**I did see ONE (very obvious) drug buy close to midnight out front about a week ago. Amazing what a LASER POINTER will do to scare off some of these perps, isn't it (heh, heh, heh).
**We had over THIRTY "intersectional U-Turns". That's where someone gets too damn lazy to go around the block and does a *360* IN the intersection, effectively tying up any traffic that tries to come by. Nice.
**We had (and still have) OVER FIFTY vehicles PER NIGHT that have improper vehicular illumination such as burned out headlights, tail lights and license plate bulbs. That adds up to some more REAL revenue being missed by the city, doesn't it?
**We had OVER TWENTY instances of "illegal parking" such as too close to a hydrant, DOUBLE parking, TRIPLE parking (believe it), and wrong way parking on a residential street. Of course, when making a drug buy, any old manner to pull up for a minute will do down here.
Now, aside from the fact that the police department is NOT actively pursuing things I have mentioned here (that I can see anyway), would it not be prudent to follow up on a lot of this stuff, since I provide it GRATIS to the department EVERY SINGLE MONTH? Most all of what generates a control number down here is purely a reactive stance.
I will say that when I pissed a fit over the little bastards vandalizing the mailbox the other week, the captain was forthcoming with getting some wheels on my street for a few days to "dissuade" these kids from further activities.
But why should it ALWAYS come down to me having to bitch? Why can't the information provided by me (as well as other credible individuals with enough fortitude to come forward) be taken at face value and then be acted upon?
It does make one wonder what the "priorities" are many days.
The department does a commendable job on the street when it comes to acting on crimes as they occur. One has to ponder the administrative involvement when it comes to proactivity on these same streets to prevent things from happening. In my mind, it all seems to come down to one thing:
WHY does crime occur in areas like mine?
Well, if you even think of mentioning the word "poverty", I'll just walk the hell away. I'm sick of hearing that EXCUSE. I want REASONS...NOT EXCUSES.
How about THESE as REASONS, then?
-Crime will occur in areas where police presence is lower.
-Crime will occur where opportunity exists.
-Crime will occur where people stop caring.
-Crime will occur where houses are being watched
-Crime will occur where perps know they can get away with it.
-Crime will occur in areas where drugs are involved.
-Crime will occur in areas where gangs are involved.
And that's just the "short" list...
I'm very fond of saying that if you DON'T allow crime to play in your area, it WILL go elsewhere. I've yet to see ANY area that had a LARGE POLICE PRESENCE, people giving a damn with little drug and/or gang activity that was considered a HIGH CRIME area, have you?
Take away the opportunity FOR crime, and crime has no choice BUT to move along.
As long as ANY opportunity FOR crime is fostered, and that even means ignorance by the city itself, crime will continue to be an issue in that area (if it doesn't wind up spreading further out).
And as long as that mentality is maintained by ANYONE in power, I'll be there, taking my notes and keeping my stats.

Someone has to do it...it might as well be me.

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