31 December 2012

Monday Musings - New Year's Eve Edition...
Here we are at long last...ready to close the door on the Year of Our Lord 2012...and you'd probably agree that it has been one helluva year.
Now, I'm not going to have any sort of retrospective on what went on over the last 364 days...that's what my ARCHIVES are for...LOL.
And I always resolve to NOT make any resolutions along such lines.
Besides, far be it for me to decide what WAS important, and what was not...that's up to every one of YOU.
There are a few things to get off my chest (as usual) before we resign this year to history, as well as perhaps a few "new" things to look forward to here for NEXT year (not the least of which will be the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in July).
So, without any further ado, let's send this year out IN STYLE...which means speaking plain, telling the truth, and saying what needs to be said.
*** First up, a HOLDUP...at our friendly neighborhood KFC in Southgate Plaza.
Here's the story:
http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/news/local/Armed-Robbery-at-KFC-on-S-Calhoun-185232482.html
And, for some strange reason, WPTA was the ONLY station that carried the story...WANE was nowhere to be found.
Didn't even make the morning edition of the J-G...tsk, tsk.
THREE masked and armed gunmen herded employees into the cooler after demanding money.
A person driving by saw what was going on inside and called police.
No injuries were reported and no cash amount (taken) was disclosed...but I'd bet the mayor's salary that a LOT of CHICKEN was taken.
(get the K-9 to follow the bones...and fast food trash that the moolies always toss from their vehicle...it'd be a start, right?)
The three robbers were wearing all black with black gloves and bandannas...gee, sounds JUST like the "ninja" team that took on that credit union a few weeks back, doesn't it?
Serial robbers?
Maybe they were just hungry and a bit short of cash - credit unions were CLOSED, so no fast money...just fast food.
Now, how effective was the FWPD in being able to prevent this?
(not very, Bob)
And that's troublesome, because more than a few times, I've seen a police cruiser sitting in the parking lot there, and not JUST at lunchtime.
It's a good spot to surveil the area...higher ground, as it were, if you've ever been through there.
But, I suppose the closer to New Year's Eve we get, the more "scarce" the police presence will become...like it does seemingly every year.
Yet, with ALL the calls that go out DAILY in our part of the ghettohood, I rarely see ANY cruisers patrolling the streets.
Maybe I get to see three cars coming through PER MONTH...that can;t be good.
*** And that brings me to the next item.
I posted a "query" to the FWPD discussion forum (more like a Q&A than a real forum, but that's on them...not me), regarding what will be occurring tonight around say...2330 hrs.
Here is a snapshot of what I posted:
Yeah, CONCERNED people want to know, and if you ever visit the FWPD forum, you notice that EVERY question gets some kind of ANSWER, usually from Off. Foster, but in THIS case...not a peep since I posted it on 19 December...how curious is THAT?
(pretty damn, folks)
Guess the department isn't PLANNING to do anything about the gunfire we suffer through every year down here?
I even sent in such a story idea to WANE...in the hope they would have a spot regarding it in the wake of the shootings across the country.
I suppose that's not newsworthy ENOUGH...but those 29 HOMICIDES we had in this city WERE, as evidenced in yesterday's newspaper.
Here's THAT story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20121230/LOCAL07/312309943/1002/LOCAL
It's a good read if you're into trends and how they've manifested themselves over recent times here.
The "average" is 25 (Ft. Wayne)...which is great compared to say...CHICAGO, which JUST hit the 500 mark for homicides
Then again, look at the population difference, and then look at WHO did most of the killing AND dying...mainly ethnics (blacks and Hispanics).
Talk about TRENDS...hmm?
And the worst part of this...ONLY THREE of our 29 homicides were SOLVED - two were police action shootings, so the REAL total is actually ONE homicide solved...right?
Sgt. Carl Moore states that it takes SIX MONTHS to get back test results from the State Police post. (maybe we need one a bit CLOSER TO HOME then?) The county record was 42 homicides, back in 1997.
Seven of the 24 homicides of 2011 are still listed as "open cases".
And Moore says the biggest challenge lies with the people not being cooperative with the police...(gee, 'ya think?).
I said before that these people operate under their OWN sense of right and wrong...their OWN brand of "justice" and need to be dealt with accordingly.
Our laws are for EVERYONE...not just for a few...or some.
As a result, they still apply to all, regardless of who the hell you think you are.
Two of the 2012 homicides were considered self-defense, and at least two homicides were listed as GANG-related...
(I'd wager THAT number is a LOT higher...we're just not being told because the FWPD isn't as sure as I am, seeing such people every damn day).
Hell, I've got a house down the block that STILL has not been shut down (after 2-3 years), and people come and go from there with abandon, and smoke joints out front...so that tells you the (apparent) effectiveness of the vice unit.
It would probably amaze the FWPD to find out how many houses down here are (illegally) "armed and dangerous".
With all the arrests of perps from around here, you'd think it would quiet down...nope...never does.
There is not ONE day that passes where there is not at least ONE incident of gunfire within a ONE-MILE RADIUS of our "fortress".
And yet, THAT is also not addressed.
*** That brings me to tonight...and the usual "event" of the evening.
We will be privy to gunfire the likes of which any soldier back from country would be seeking the nearest place to duck and cover.
It will begin after 2300 hours, and will culminate at midnight when it will sound like a firefight in Kabul...or Hue..or Bastogne...or Vicksburg.
Take your pick...gunfire is still gunfire, and bullets are still stupid.
They tend to go wherever they're pointed, and according to physics, whenever they go UP...they WILL come DOWN.
You can call in a *signal 113* (shots fired) until your finger falls off, and you'd be damned lucky to even SEE a police cruiser in the area.
You can advise dispatch to seeing a muzzle flash and give them an address to send the police, and I have YET to see anyone get a "cuff n stuff" downtown.
Doesn't exactly give one a "warm and fuzzy" feeling when it comes to being protected.
But, rest assured the FWPD WILL REACT...after a situation occurs...THAT the officers are permitted to do.
Active patrolling with increased presence in known hot spots?
Well, that's a whole other ballgame...
I can only HOPE that things are addressed a bit BETTER...as I do every year.
Hope becomes like a dream (down here)...the price to pursue either or is right...as in FREE.
*** Lastly today, I've been through the party gig years ago, so no cavorting and acting stupid for me (or Wifey).
I've returned to my "roots" and come full circle as it were...when our family used to celebrate (sort of) quietly every New Year...with the sincere wish for a better year than the previous one.
I think you have focus on what you have received the year before, and carry that into the next year - that's about as good as you could want.
And, to be able to turn the page to the NEXT chapter of our own story allows you the opportunity to begin anew, correct past mistakes, and to seek to become a better person in the New Year than you were the year before.
Yeah, it does all come down to our life...and how we embrace it, rather than shy from it.
In that, I think we can all come away better off.
So, we'll see you here NEXT year...same time, same channel.
Stay tuned for some "different" things, a few old things (that would include ME...lol), and some things meant to make you think...and question.
Hell, you might even come away with a Cheshire smile...nothing wrong with that, eh?
Catch all of you on the OTHER side, then.
Be well, make a difference to someone today, and be sure to...
Stay SAFE out there, America.

4 comments:

CWMartin said...

I read the JG article, and noted most of the same concerns you had with it.

I think the ISP is a handy excuse, as apparently is "working on a motive". It seemed like most of them had one or more "persons of interest," but one of those two excuses were keeping them from being arrested.

Why be so careful? Richards will plea them down to misdemeanors anyway!

And the only real way Ft Wayne gets these thugs off the streets is when they shoot each other (bringing us back to my "hunger games" suggestion from a while back).

FWPD doesn't seem to realize the public would support them getting more resources if they'd properly use the ones they have!

After all, if the law abiding citizens think the department is a joke, how must the thugs feel about them?

And the standard response is to stick their collective head in the sand until the complaints become so many, or from high enough up, that Mayor Henry issues some pious homily about the great job they do and everything "settles down..."

God help us if it gets to a point that FW has to have a Sandy Hook before the FWPD realizes they are a police department again....

Hmm... I think I might copy my response to the JG.

Bob G. said...

CWM:
You go right AHEAD and send it along to he J-G...AND the News-Sentinel, too.
And when it appears, I will POST THAT LINK as well.

I pray we NEVER have anything close to Sandy Hook.,.,.but with ALL THESE morons down here, it's ALWAYS likely, if not in our schools, then DEFINITELY upon our very STREETS!

We ACTUALLY had THIRTY HOMICIDES...if you ALSO count Joshua Frisby (and I followed his story as far as the media did...which wasn't all that far).
He became forgotten REAL fast.

The coroner could nOT determine an AEXACT CAUSE of death in order to rule it a homicide...(I thought the gunshot wound would suffice)...and it remains a plain old (unresolved) DEATH...on our streets.
Wonder how the victim's FAMILY feels about that, hmm?

I guess some folks won't be happy until we're more like Detroit...or Chicago...purely in the name of "diversity", mind you.

It's the top command staff who is at fault with the FWPD...
Trickle-down apathy.
(at it's best?)

Thanks for being a regular here this past year and for providing much food for thought with your comments.
I have appreciated it.

Do have yourselves a very good New Year up there.
Stay safe.

John DuMond said...

"ONLY THREE of our 29 homicides were SOLVED - two were police action shootings, so the REAL total is actually ONE homicide solved...right?"

So I guess the way to improve their homicide clearance rate... is for the FWPD to shoot more people? Okay, I suppose they could try actual investigative techniques, but that would be pretty complicated, I suppose. ;)

Have a Happy New Year, Bob.

Bob G. said...

John D.:
Yeah, and there was a THIRD shooting listed as a homicide/suicide (shooter kills self), so THAT's even a no-brainer...that would leave NONE of (the balance of) the homicides SOLVED...
ZE-RO...!!!
(amazing how the MEDIA misses such things...like basic math skills...lol)

Okay...yep, I can deal with the police shooting MORE of the perps (ALL of them would be even better)
...save a LOT of money and jail time when the prosecutor plea deals them out of the death penalty.
Hell, that even takes care OF plea-dealing DOWN to misdemeanors...
Problem DEFINITELY solved.

I LIKE the way you think, Boss.

Thanks for skiing over here today and taking the time to comment.
And do have YOURSELF a Happy New Year as well.
(Gonna be weird w/o Dick Clark)

Roll safe out there.