02 August 2010

Monday Musings...
Here we go...another new week; another new month.
And in my part of the multiverse...probably a lot of the "same old"...
*** First, let me start out by saying that my heartfelt thanks goes out to Ann T. Hathaway.
Over at her blog yesterday (link at left), she provided me with a marvelous "e-birthday"... I mean, how the heck could I expect muscle cars AND mariachis...at the same "bash", hmm?
I still have 20 days to go to the real deal...and I can't even begin to come close to Ann's party, so I won't try.
Meanwhile...back at the "ranch"...
*** Death comes to fort Wayne.
Well, it's not what you would EXPECT...a wild rabbit was run over a few days ago, along our side street, by some jerk that wasn't paying attention.
I didn't see it happen, just the result.
I know the way others drive (read speeding) around here, and how many are traveling UNDER some influence, be it liquid, inhaled, or snorted.
The GOOD news is that it wasn't the one in our garden "hutch", so I've still got my buddy coming 'round every day for his vittles.
Now, if only Mr. Nuthatch and Mr. Woodpecker would drop on by...haven't seen either of them for some time now.
And, like a good neighbor (and friend) I worry about their safety...it's the St. Francis in me, no doubt.
*** More shootings in Fort Wayne.
At least SOME things don't change all that much, do they?
This pair of shooting occurred the next bock up, and a couple of blocks over...in the middle of the damn afternoon.
(( Published: July 31, 2010 3:00 a.m.
Shooting critically wounds 2 - Driver, grandson hit as mid afternoon chat between cars ends in gunfire
Jeff Wiehe Swikar Patel The Journal Gazette
Medics put one of two shooting victims into an ambulance Friday afternoon at South Park Drive and Sherwood Terrace.
FORT WAYNE – Rachel Hicks hopes to work in the medical field someday, but the south-side resident has already received an unexpected crash course in treating bullet wounds.
Two men inside a dark-colored Ford Taurus were shot and critically wounded Friday at East Sherwood Terrace and South Park Drive, just down the street from Hicks’ home. The shots rang out just after 3:30 p.m., disrupting a yard sale Hicks and her family were having.
Seconds later, someone down the street was yelling for a towel. Hicks grabbed one and headed for the 4600 block of South Park, where she found a man bleeding from his arm and lying on the porch of a home.
"He kept saying he was diabetic," said Hicks, who noted that she’s attending school at Ivy Tech to become a medical assistant. "He said his blood sugar was low and he was going to pass out."
Soon, Fort Wayne police officers were next to Hicks. She and the officers continued to help the man by applying pressure to his wounds while they waited for medics to arrive, she said. In that time, she heard the story the man gave to police:
He was driving his grandson in the Taurus. When his grandson saw a group of people he knew, he asked him to stop the car to talk. Someone in that group began firing a gun at the car, shooting the man and his grandson multiple times, Hicks said.
Fort Wayne police offered a similar story:
Two men were driving the Taurus north on South Park with a white Oldsmobile, made in the mid- to late-1980s, behind them. Police have not identified the men in the Taurus but listed one as 61 years old and the other as 24.
Both cars turned west onto Sherwood, with the Oldsmobile pulling up next to the Taurus. Police believe people in both cars knew one another, and that the cars stopped so the people inside could have a conversation, according to officer Scott Tegtmeyer, police spokesman.
At least one person, maybe more, in the Oldsmobile then began firing at the Taurus, Tegtmeyer said.
The shooting caused the Taurus to sideswipe a parked car along the street and then hit a tree in the front yard of a home in the 900 block of East Sherwood. The driver of the Taurus got out of the car and fled.
Police believe as many as four people might’ve been in the Oldsmobile, Tegtmeyer said. No arrests have been made.
Witnesses told police there were six to eight gunshots, while Hicks said she heard from 12 to 15.
"It was pop, pop, poppoppoppoppoppop," she said, imitating the sound.
Hicks helped the driver of the Taurus. She said he had a bullet wound in his forearm and another in his biceps area. The bullet that tore his biceps appeared to have shattered the bone, exited from the underarm area and ended up lodged in his chest near the collarbone, Hicks said.
"The way that arm was moving, no way it was in one piece," Hicks said.
The man kept asking the officers treating him about his grandson, Hicks said.
Moments after the shooting, police had cordoned off the entire intersection. Residents of the neighborhood began flocking to the scene from all sides. Many said they heard the gunfire from blocks away, but few were willing to give their names when discussing the shooting or the neighborhood.
One woman said kids often played with firecrackers in the neighborhood and that it was sometimes hard to tell whether those loud bangs were gunshots. Hicks, who moved to the area in April, said she has heard some firecrackers and the sounds of some scuffles, but nothing like she heard Friday.
Another woman who came to the scene wondered aloud what ever happened to young people using fistfights to solve problems.
"You’d fight each other, and then two hours later you’d be best friends again," the woman said.
Hicks said that after the shots rang out, she saw a group of people race off in a white car. She believes that the car belonged to the shooters since it was the only other car in the vicinity. It did, though, have one characteristic not released by the police.
"It had green racing stripes along the top," said Hicks, who gave her statement to police at the scene.
))
Well, now...couldn't see this coming, could we?
Typical animalistic behavior, perpetrated against two people. Don't need a reason these days, do you?
At least the Olds will be REAL easy to spot...and I WILL be looking for it.
What amazed me about the shootings, was that I SHOULD have seen more than JUST TWO (unmarked) police cars criss-crossing the area in the aftermath.
And those cars only came by once each...nothing more was seen around our neighborhood.
I SHOULD have seen some FWPD cars going up and down our alleys, because so many are overgrown to the point where you COULD actually hide some cars. But I saw nothing.
One has to also consider the FACT that this part of town is the repository of OLDER cars.
(a garage-kept 1983 black Firebird owned by me notwithstanding...lol)
And they're all not the older cars YOU would come to know in times past.
forget those really cool muscle cars and classic autos they way they USED to look.
Down here, you get an older car because of the SIZE OF THE TRUNK, as in "how much stereo can I cram into it, so I can annoy the neighborhoods?" type of cars. Add some goofed-up "30s" with some wide ass rubber on those rims, paint it up in some garishly ghettoed-up, gag-a-maggot color (or colors), toss on a few graphics promoting some product, or better yet, the car's NAME (because the idiots behind the wheel don't know what the hell they're driving). It's like putting huge letters that say IMPALA on that...well, Impala. These morons are definitely in the running for membership in the "Department of Redundancy Department".
(must be a "cultural thang")
As you may or may not know, I send along a monthly "report" to our quadrant captain, advising her of certain problem houses, cars, and the like.
Today, I want to include a portion of the email I'm sending along, just so you can better understand the situation and my specific feelings regarding the status quo down here...so here goes.
(( I suppose the ONE thing I find incredulous as far as my understanding of city ordinances is WHY noise is not regarded as "important"?
It's been PROVEN that NOISE is the NUMBER ONE pet peeve in most ALL major cities. It's been proven to affect the learning ability of children, place people at risk for accidents, and seriously affect health conditions whether you have a pre-existing condition...or not.
Maybe THAT'S why the kids down here all seem to have learning DISABILITIES?
I can't call this ignorance of all this noise by the city embracing ANY form of "cultural expression"...it's NOISE, damn it, plain and simple.
So let's start busting and citing these acoustic morons, shall we?
I'm all for STATISTICS...when they PROPERLY REFLECT the actuality of the reasoning behind them.
We can have over FIVE HUNDRED noise citations a YEAR in the city, and at first glance, that looks pretty damn impressive...BUT, when you stop and consider that we have damn close to THAT MANY boomcars passing OUR house EVERY DAMN MONTH of that year, the original "500 a year" for the city becomes very insignificant...very quickly. Wouldn't you agree?
I've suggested ways to CATCH these noise-makers...and nothing.
I've expressed personal concerns about these morons...and nothing.
I've done everything I can, short of taking care of these people by myself, which would appear to be the only option after all other resources have been exhausted or never even implemented. Now, if someone "at the top" was paying ANY attention to ANY of the crap that goes on down here for the last 10+ years, they'd have figured out (by now) that the department is simply being improperly utilized...all for allowing certain groups' self-esteem to remain intact for diversity's sake.
That's all well and good...EXCEPT for the victims of violent crime down here, right?
The department has allowed too much of the "small crap" to go unnoticed, unenforced, and unresolved...so naturally, with the manner in which the police are treated AND viewed by the "locals" down here, it's ONLY natural that we're up to our collective hips in all this BIG CRAP...such as the robberies, break-ins, and homicides and shooting, isn't it?
If the department wants quotas and "numbers" when it comes to citations, I vociferously maintain that you have MORE MONEY to be had DOWN HERE than anywhere else in the city...all the department has to do is "grow a pair" and start making it happen.
If I have to put up with some loudass that thumps through my neighborhood for MONTHS, if not YEARS, or goes for MONTHS with no license plate bulb or a blown out tail lamp, then there is something SERIOUSLY wrong with the department's priorities when executing traffic stops.
Maybe officers need to chase after THOSE people?
On most ANY day around here...like CLOCKWORK, the noise becomes a LOT more constant RIGHT after 1500 hours.
It's like someone flipped a damn switch and set ALL these assholes loose at once.
It just surprises me that B & C shifts are simply NOT catching ANY of these people. I would have expected AT LEAST a few, but NONE???
Sure, these idiots can turn their stereo down, but how's about having the police look a bit CLOSER at these (known) lawbreakers. You'd probably be surprised in what you'd find if more of these morons were pulled the hell over, cited for noise violations and have the damn car impounded.
While we're at it, you can also have (or should already have) ordinances that DISALLOW the extreme WINDOW TINT (safety issue to law-enforcement), the OVER SIZED WHEELS (safety issue on the streets), the "PERFORMANCE MUFFLERS", and other related items that have absolutely NO place in a residential setting.
The amount of LITTERING has also gone UP (big surprise there) including ALCOHOLIC containers (missing a few DUIs around here, aren't we?), so that must be another ordinance that is NOT being strenuously enforced.
It MAY Interest you to know that among the flotsam that winds up being tossed on our lawn, from all the passing "diversity" last month was, of all things...a K2 WRAPPER! I kept it for future references...JUST like that brick that came through our window AND that bottle bomb that was tossed on our lawn about EIGHT years ago...in case ANYONE in the department EVER needs some forensic "examples".
NONE of this is about ANYONE'S "culture", or freedom of expression here.
Not by a LONG SHOT.
It IS about a culture of apathy (by others)...a culture that rewards bad behavior, and apparently also gets a free pass when it comes to disrespecting law-abiding citizens that watch THEIR neighborhood decline around them.
It IS about a person's right to PRIVACY (mine), and MY right (along with a lot more people that either have no voice, or are too afraid to speak up) to that whole "QUALITY-OF-LIFE" thing this city wants to be SO on-board with these days, because frankly, I'm just NOT seeing it, definitely NOT hearing it , and NOT really feeling it ONE DAMN BIT.
Fair is fair here.
Decent people should be allowed to live where they want and NOT have to be privy to such noise...OR crime.
They should NOT be forced to move due to the lack of city intervention.
More PROACTIVITY is warranted.
Less reactivity is required as a result.
You can't protect and serve all that well when you're coming on scene AFTER things go wrong all the time, can you? I call it "chasing the radio", instead of good, solid PATROLLING a problem area. More visibility IS needed. A better rapport with the community is needed, and an understanding that the police is NOT "the enemy" of minorities (only the lawless) is also required.
It could ALL be accomplished...WITH a concerned effort by ALL law-enforcement agencies...that is, if they cared about those who pay all those salaries of the departments.
It's just a thought...and a damn good one, if you ask me.
))
This is fairly typical of the emails I send along every month. And I am in no way smacking down the "grunts in the trenches" here...the street-beaters do a fantastic job, given the situation.
The only things that I provide are numbers of vehicular visits to problem houses, any drive up drug buys and include descriptions of people and vehicles involved in suspicious behavior (along with pictures when obtainable).
Personally, I'd take something like this coming across my computer every month a godsend, especially in some blighted neighborhood. Police departments NEED as many eyes on the street as they can get, and as many boots on the ground as they can find when it comes to neighborhood allies.
I don't remain anonymous, nor do I seek any special favors or "glory" from this.
And I certainly don't expect ANY monetary compensation for ANY of the work I do, or information I provide.
I do all this because I'm one of those "old farts" that believes in something too many neighborhoods lack these days...
It's called JUSTICE, and the last time I checked it was still for ALL.
It's about being FAIR and being EQUAL, as in I have JUST as much right to LIVE my life, and not merely exist, especially in a neighborhood that I've lived in a helluva lot longer than ANY of these transients.
It's about caring for one's environs, making sure that crime isn't on the "buffet" that's being served daily down here.
It's about following the LAW...doing the RIGHT thing, because doing otherwise often has dire consequences.
And life, as we all know, is too damn short to screw around trying to get unf*cked from self-created issues and problems.
Life should be a "forward-moving" journey, and while it's perfectly okay to look back from time to time, we must always keep our eyes fixed on what's up ahead.
Just try walking a hiking trail while NOT looking forward to see what lies ahead. Bet you wind up on your butt sooner than you think.
We can ALWAYS get back up though, and refix our eyes FORWARD so as not to repeat that fall.
We are too often distracted in today's world, and too soon forgetful about what does lie ahead of each of us.
Fortunately, we can "relearn" and reteach ourselves to focus our attention where it needs to be.
That's what a large aprt of life is all about, anyway...the quest to learn.
Through learning, we become better than the day before, and that prepares us for the day tomorrow.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.

6 comments:

Ann T. said...

Dear Bob,
First, you are more than welcome!

Second, that mess with the grandfather and grandson getting shot is just appalling.

I do so love that the one woman did try to help. That argues that she is interested in the work past a paycheck. She needs to get more positive feedback and a chance for success! All of us need to foster those impulses and make them part of that person's backbone forever.

Speaking of which, I hope your letters to the PD start bearing fruit. Your spine is way developed,
Bob, but everybody needs a little assist!

Have a great week,
Ann T.

Bob G. said...

Ann:

It would appear that the grandson's "choice of friends" needs to be carefully RE-THOUGHT.
Grandad just got in the way of some sort of altercation.

And yes, KUDOS to the woman that decided to assist.
Every block should have such a person...or FIVE.

Funny, our old neighborhood was hard pressed to NOT have someone wanting to help in such situations.

And we had our share of traffic accidents at our intersection...about four per year.
Thankfully, we never had gunplay, but it was a simpler time.
(with a lot fewer gun laws and better-behaved citizens)
You know the era...

As to my letters bearing fruit?
Well, Lord knows I've planted ENOUGH "trees"...I'm giving Johnny Appleseed some serious competition here in Indiana...LOL.

I just hope I dont get arthritis in my spine...the hands hurt enough as it is.

Hey, thanks for taking time to drop on by today.
Sorry about any mess...t'was a helluva party we had here...LOL.

Have yourself a fantastic week!

Slamdunk said...

Happy early b-day.

It looks like you give the Capt. lots to think about. I was curious--do your emails get a response?

Bob G. said...

Slamdunk:
To be perfectly honest, I rarely get any sort of response.

I might get a phone call when I mention something that may have placed me "at risk".
(a confrontation with some local butthead, like the time I shot my BB pistol 4 times at some loud ass-mobile late at night...she was concerned about reprisals or me getting shot)

She has stopped by the house to thank me for my "service", and even presented me with a FWPD coaster set (SE Division, of course...lol)
She has to be busy, trying to maintain law and order in THIS part of town...very busy.

You play the game..you take your chances.
(but I DO so like to WIN...therein lies the difference)

I never take ANY chance that I don't several ways out of...that's just SOP with me.

Appreciate you taking the time to swing on by today.

Have a great week.

indy said...

perhaps granddad was an old gangster himself. sometimes traditions are passed down in familys. never the less.... i notice about 1 1/2 years ago up to 2 years ago alot of home breakins were happining in early morning hours. i'm talking 6am 7am up 9am as a hot time. when i moved out of my old home i had a 7am visit. we were all up and dressed (it was moving day) the young man came up to the door and knocked on it wanting to talk to my daughter at 7am he had on an empty backpack. she hadnt talked to this fool for over a year. we were all on alert and i slapped in a mag in my gun. he heard it and backed off the door. i told him to go away that it was too early in the morning to be f...ing with me. he walked down my drive as i watched and pulled out a cell phone to call (his buddies?) someone. i was very happy to see the movers within the hour after that. see the phone company had disconnected my home phone a day early. so it was like living in the wild west.

Bob G. said...

Indy:
I never thought Grand-dad could be an OG...'ya never know in the "Badlands" here.

Glad you had your firearm nearby to "dissuade" this young thug.
WTG!

What I notice in OUR neighborhood, is that time has little relevance to these people.
What WE think of as normal behavior during regular hours...doesn't work for them one bit.

Usually, the times between 4AM and 11AM are the "safest", but we still have those operating on another "shift"....we've got that many of them.

And since VERY FEW hold down a REAL job, and spend most all their time cruising about, I view most ALL of them with a high degree of suspicion...ALL the time.

Some folks need to really "man up", get their currently pitiful lives together and get on with LIVING it, instead of bluffing their way through it (at other peoples' expense).

But that's just *my* opinion...

Hey, thanks a lot for taking time to stop on by.

Carry on.