"Another murder, this time on 8th Street"
http://news.racinepost.com/2008/07/another-murder-this-time-on-8th-street.html
Not too far from me. Surprised I didn't hear the gunshots. I usually do. Surprised I'm writing this. If you had told me 40 years ago that today I'd be living in Racine and regularly listening to gunshots at night and reading about the results the next morning, I would've scoffed. It's a nightmare, Mayor Becker, a real life nightmare that we're sick of living.
I drove through downtown yesterday. I do that everyday. There were plenty of people out enjoying the sunshine and partying on Monopoly Square. All white, all well-to-do. That's wonderful - for them. What about the rest of us, Mayor Becker?
And before anyone asks, "What would you do?" two things:
1) I'm not the mayor or the police chief. I didn't run for the job. I didn't present myself as qualified for the position nor did I seek it. When I take my auto to a mechanic to have it repaired, I do not expect him to ask me how to fix it. He is the mechanic. That is his job.
2) If it were up to me, I would issue communications and protective gear to block captains or whatever representatives the neighborhoods elect to truly represent them. We'll arm ourselves. Let us patrol our own hoods. We're sick of waiting 45 minutes for the police to show up. We're sick of judges who release the animals back into our neighborhoods and homes over and over again. We're sick of people who don't live here and don't give a damn telling us what our problems are. We're sick of swimming in blood and fear while Becker's constituency parties, parties, and parties downtown. The decadence is staggering, in more ways than one.
All Becker needs now is a violin to play while the city located outside of downtown burns behind him.
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7 comments:
Yesterday, I caught part of a broadcast with Becker and the Police Chief at the opening of a COP House...stressing that it will not be a permanent police presence in the neighborhood (sorry, I don't even know where the darn thing is). This is a couple year thing and then the house is to be sold and owner occupied.
My question is, did the COP house on Mead make a difference??? I don't think so. Personally, I can't see where any one of those COP houses has actually stabilized a neighborhood and chased crime out. First of all, they are manned during the day and that's not when most of the crime in these neighborhoods occurs.
There has to be a real police presence, and once arrested, real punishment has to be handed out.
I would like to feel safe in Racine, but driving through the city to get to the lakefront gives me the heebie jeebies.
Hey Orbs, no fair! I used the Nero reference months ago. lol
Yes, they continue to remain silent, but why? It makes no sense!
I have speculated that, for years, there was an agreement between the administration and the dealers: Sell your drugs in a certain area, don't put bodies on the street, and we'll leave you alone.
Now, the deal has been broken, but the administration is cowering because either they are afraid that this agreement will become public, or they are in the pockets of the drug dealers.
Since Becker and Wahlen chose denial (classic symptom of addiction) over admitting that Racine has a problem, it's impossible for them to now say, "We were wrong." In fact, human life means less to them than saving face. Remember, no one "important" has been killed yet. As long as the murder and savagery is confined to us po' folk, Becker doesn't care. He's an elitist and a racist.
Yes, Beejay, crime drops when the police presence increases, and vice-versa. Common sense. Of course, cops cost money, and reducing crime in the poor areas of town would mean less government funds available to party. Crime reduction has nowhere near the positive psychological impact that city-sponsored parties do on the important, white voters. Never fear, the publicly-funded and natural attractions of Racine will continue to be exploited by City Administration to the enormous profit and benefit of the select private enterprises and individuals who crony up to the drunk in charge. The rest of us can go to hell.
Party on, Becker!
I have to agree with beejay, there are areas that give me the willies to drive through too. God forbid you approach a stop light in the evening.
There is no good route to the lakefront. How do you justify downtown activities when you can't get there without going through dangerous neighborhoods?
Reactionary management is not the answer. Waiting for dead bodies does not make a community safer. More needs to be directed at prevention. I know, it costs money. We can't keep hiding our heads and believe it will get better on its own.
There also needs to be consistent punishment for crime and especially crime with weapons. By "consistent," I don't mean consistently ignoring it and doling out wrist slapping.
The criminal "justice" system is obscene, insane. Working father shoots and kills would-be-robber: life in prison. Gangbanger wannabe randomly murders twelve-year old boy: 18 years in prison. Nothing makes sense anymore.
I know a man who has stalked and terrified a woman for six years now. Every two years she takes out another restraining order on him. And every two years he violates it. He just got busted again. And again he got probation. He laughs about it, literally - it is a joke to him. I was present at one of his "consultations" with his lawyer. When she (his lawyer) heard who the judge was, she said, "No problems. He's my landlord." And that was it. It doesn't matter that the man has ruined another person's life. It doesn't matter that he taunts and terrifies his victim. It doesn't matter that he's a convicted felon carrying around a weapon. It doesn't matter because the lawyer and judge are cronies.
I was warned about this years ago when my ex and I tried to perform a do-it-yourself divorce in Racine. After seeking advice everywhere and constantly getting the runaround, I contacted a group in Madison that specializes in helping people do their own divorces. Their advice: set up a legal residence in any county other than Racine and file there, because "the judges and lawyers in Racine are in bed together. Everyone knows that. Doing your own divorce cuts into their fees and they won't allow it." They said find a friend in Kenosha who will accept mail for you for 90 days, then file there.
If you appear in Racine Municipal Court on a city ordinance violation, you are guilty, period. The only thing to be negotiated is how much you will pay.
I have no respect for the legal system in this city. None. They're just legalized crooks, worse than the felons they supposedly judge because they lack the intestinal fortitude to admit to what they are.
As a Caledonia resident, I can't vote for Racine's Mayor, but we did throw an idiot board president out of office some years back. He absolutely refused to LISTEN to the residents.
We finally had enough and he was gone. It also served notice on the remaining board members that nonsense will not be tolerated.
Okay, so why can't poor people have safe neighborhoods...not only gangsters and creeps live in poor neighborhoods. I am so angry that these areas have been ignored by city management. Orbs, my husband and I used to own rental property in these neighborhoods and I was never afraid to go into those areas less than ten years ago...today, no way.
You run for mayor and I think you will be elected..if I could vote for you, I would! Someone who cares for everyone in the city, not just the affluent!
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