Humpday Happenings...
Here we are, smack dab in the middle of the week, and we all know what THAT means, right?
Time for this week's military quote, otherwise known as "WHO SAID THAT?"
"It depends on justice, freedom from corruption, and unswerving truth to one's word and to every obligation one has undertaken."
So...who said that? (and no, it's not generals George Patton or Chesty Puller...lol)
Answer at the top of tomorrow's post.
Meanwhile, back at the barracks...
*** Uh oh...could it be?
Not ANOTHER shooting on the...(...all together, gang...)...SOUTHEAST side of Ft. Wayne?
12F054191 17:05:24 113 SHOTS FIRED 48XX WINTER ST
12F054189 17:05:52 43,62 47XX WINTER ST
Say it ain't SO, Bob...
Wish I could, but these days, with THESE people, it's pretty much standard fare
The weird thing was that when I heard this come over the radio yesterday, the AREA mentioned was initially much LARGER than was portrayed in today's media sources (WOWO said yesterday that Tillman, Paulding, and Decatur Rd were ALL blocked).
But let's take a look at what those other news sources HAD to say (or more properly...were TOLD), shall we?
--Story 1 (from WANE):
(( One in serious condition after shooting
Updated: Tuesday, 17 Apr 2012, 8:34 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 17 Apr 2012, 6:35 PM EDT
FORT WAYNE, Ind. Fort Wayne Police are investigating an apparent shooting Tuesday evening.
According to officers, just after 4:30, multiple vehicles gathered at the 4700 block of Winter Street for some unknown reason.
Several people got out of the vehicles and a fight ensued. As the fight escalated, multiple people pulled out guns and started firing.
One person was hit and was taken to the hospital in serious condition.
The incident remains under investigation. ))
--Story 2 (from WPTA):
(( Shooting Sends One To Hospital
By Maureen Mespell
April 17, 2012
Updated Apr 17, 2012 at 10:51 PM EDT
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) -- A late afternoon shooting sends one victim to a local hospital in serious condition.
Details are sketchy at this time, but Fort Wayne Police were called to the 4700 block of Winter Street around 5:15 Tuesday.
Police are interviewing witnesses and have no suspects at this time. ))
Now, what can we glean from all this?
Well, I'm not going to speculate at this time, but I have MY (personal) suspicions as to what "might" have transpired, and the fact that NO details seem to be forthcoming from the FWPD says much...to me, anyway.
Naturally, as with ANY such scenario down here in the ghettohood, witnesses at the scene are about as useless as teats on a damn bull.
If it's not the "drama" that ensues, it's most certainly the utter "silence" from people who were actually THERE.
Remember the shootings up at Mookie's bar a while back?
(One dead, two hurt - 1 Nov 2011 - the infamous Halloween bash)
Hundreds of people there, and so few leads (I checked around the archival stuff, and to date, NO arrest was made in THAT shooting), but trying to get important information that could impact on residents lives is HARDER than finding $2 a gallon gasoline in this city.
Now, it makes you wonder that in this latest Winter St. shooting, that the police would be so reticent (or is that reluctant?) to disclose information that could possibly give them the tip or lead they NEED to get this case over with ASAP, and restore some level of confidence to the minority residents that have no reason to bestow trust in the department...because it's the way these people have been brought up; to distrust the po-po.
These people believe in "street-justice", and that's WHY you might see people drive up to some house and shoot the hell out of it AND/OR the people found inside. Then those shot at do the retaliatory gig, and things get out of hand all too quickly.
Yet, through ALL of this crap, not word one from these so-called "black community leaders"...all THEY seem concerned with is councilman district boundaries, so they can make sure they have the votes to get RE-re-re-elected and still give nothing but lip service and provide more taxpayer-funded handouts to their "unwashed masses".
There is a serious problem in this city, and few seem to be noticing (or even bother TO notice).
The main reason I can see such things, is because I come from a much BIGGER city (with the associated much bigger problems that have been there long before they came HERE to "River City").
Interesting enough they had a shooting in the SAME block back on 8 July 2011, so this area is NO stranger to aberrant behavior by the beasts that inhabit it. And at first glance, it's a relatively unremarkable part of the ghettohood.
Lots of post WW2 bungalow (one story) houses..hardly ANY with a 1/2 second story, and no "four-squares" to speak of...the kind of nice small starter homes that young families would purchase after getting married (back in the day).
Today, it's more like "Rental Crib Central" with garishly painted BLUE houses (much like the PURPLE painted facade on a house in the 4800 block of Avondale...the house with the NEW CADILLAC CTS sedan parked right up to the door, ON the front "lawn").
When you think INCONGRUITY...think OUR ghettohood.
Nowhere else will you find a car that's worth more than any THREE houses on the block parked at ONE of those houses.
Kinda makes 'ya wonder WHO is living there, HOW they can afford that car (when they obviously have no REAL job) and HOW MUCH they charge for the drugs they MUST be dealing (as well as WHAT types of weaponry they have inside)...doesn't it?
Well, THAT is exactly the type of thing you find in such abundance down here, because it's both sad AND laughable at the same time.
The police radio is replete with an almost constant stream of calls regarding break-ins, domestics, thefts, threats, party armed, and invariably, you ALSO hear the words "male black" attached to them.
And I have the NERVE to wonder WHY the FWPD doesn't have a LOT more patrols as a more PROACTIVE measure...
Silly me, they're all WAY too busy answering ALL those "butt-dials" for 911, or the barking dog calls.
Can't effectively patrol under THOSE auspices, can you?
It's little wonder we always hear the following:
"The Fort Wayne Police are seeking your help..."
Hell, I'm TRYING to help as best I can, but too much I fear falls into that "circular file", never to be seen or heard again.
And trying to get the MOOKS in this area involved is like having the Pope preach to a gathering of atheists.
But whenever the police are justified in shooting an armed and dangerous citizen aka "one of their OWN" (rather than place other residents or the officers at risk) ALL we hear is how BAD the police are (or were)...how "quick" they are to react (seconds DO mean the difference between life and death).
In defense of that, I would say that the police are all pretty much more REACTIVE than PROACTIVE...said that for years.
And the radio traffic bears that much out.
There ARE officers in the department that can SEE the problems, and KNOW what NEEDS to be done, but when the top dogs aren't listening and just counting the days until they can retire with a full pension, nothing gets done to better the situation.
Now, I said all THAT...to say THIS...
Can we TRUTHFULLY say we have a "safe" community?
Depends on HOW you define the word SAFE.
We are safe...compared to parts of DETROIT...or CHICAGO...or even PHILLY.
But, are we (all) safe enough to go about our normal lives?
When I go out to mow the lawn with a pistol strapped to my waist...you tell me.
And I only had to feel comfortable doing so within the last 8-10 years.
Before that, had no need to do so, but we had something back THEN that we sorely lack now.
Good neighbors...or more correctly, neighbors that GAVE A FRIGGIN' DAMN.
You allow ONE bad one to get into the area, and the whole place goes south REAL fast.
Blame this on people that buy up properties that go on sale due to deaths in families, or others just moving away (growing families), or maybe they see the crime coming all around this neighborhood...perhaps all of the above.
Those that DO purchase these houses are NOT in it to MOVE INTO them at all...it's a scheme to get money from HUD or FWHA so they can dump some lowlifes into these (now) rentals properties, only to have them bring crime in with their few belongings in those pickup trucks.
That's what caused the 4700 block of Winter street to deteriorate...ditto for OUR area just west of them.
This SAME scenario is playing out in other, more (soon to be formerly) "nice" neighborhoods...it's a damn disease.
Trouble is, the CITY must have some perverse "need" for diseased areas...and those who move into them.
And when ANY city develops needs such as this, the rest of us should feel the NEED to speak out...and often.
I WANT a nice neighborhood again....but I NEED to feel safe to achieve that want as well.
A perfect case of needs and wants if ever I saw one, and the only time when they work hand-in-hand.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.