Georgia Tech Robberies (Atlanta: dorm, luxury, landlord)

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by onemanarmy

I think you argument is comparing apples to oranges. There is no diversity in wealth in the area you grew up. I grew up in rural area, and I have seen the same poverty first hand as well. There are NO easy targets of prey in WV, or Appalachia. There is no annonimity, easy access to transporation, etc... You can't compare rural poverty to urban poverty so easily.

onemanarmy,

I said that I grew up in Appalachia - not in the middle of a coal mine under a mountain 50 miles from other humans. LOL

Charleston, West Virginia is the Capital of the State. 55,000 in the City, and approximately 300,000 in the metro area. Hardy "rural", yet many in that metro area are well below what is considered the official poverty line. There certainly ARE pockets of wealth in that City. It's not nearly as sprawled and common as you see here in Atlanta, but it does exist, and it does give the opportunity for criminals to have "victims" to choose from. Yet, we still do not have people lurking behind trees waiting for someone to pull into their driveway to rob them, or drive up to students and rob them. It just does not happen. Why? Because we have poor, desperate people - not thugs. Poor desperate people participate in a completely different set of crimes in order to survive (those who choose to cross that line to do so) - thugs do it for fun, for easy money, for drug money, or simply because they're too lazy and stupid to attempt to hold a REAL job and contribute to society on any level.

There are a very small number but still existing amount of higher-end places where these people live, and play. They are easy targets if criminals so choose to pick them. There is easy access to transportation in the form of three interstates that pass right through Charleston (just like Atlanta) and an extensive city bus system. So I'm not comparing "rural poverty" to urban poverty. I'm comparing urban to urban. No apples or oranges needed.

[Reelist in Atlanta]

Originally Posted by DuchessOfKvetch

People can defend their homes all they want, but how does "packing heat" at home prevent someone from getting mugged in the street? Most of the chest-pounding machismo barked out here is just plain dangerous, and will get people killed.

They can get a carry permit so their protection is not limited to the home. Criminals depend on a largely unarmed populace. If the criminals were pretty sure that most people were armed there would be a lot less crime.

- Reel

[AcidSnake]

Originally Posted by Reelist in Atlanta

They can get a carry permit so their protection is not limited to the home. Criminals depend on a largely unarmed populace. If the criminals were pretty sure that most people were armed there would be a lot less crime.

- Reel

I just wish that there some sort of standardized education on handgun use and storage. There are too many stories of children getting their hands on a gun and shooting themselves. If it's good for Switzerland then why can't this country do the same?

[IMISSNY]

Originally Posted by DeaconJ

Where do you live? Bankhead/Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway? You might want to research an area of ANY city before you move there...but I suspect you live in Dunwoody or some similar haven and you're just reading about crime that is over-hyped by our local media.

hahahahahahahaha, If you are wondering why I am laughing ha ha Bankhead/Hollowell Parkway/ Dunwoody you are joking right. No I live in a gated community in Henry County, were there is nothing but cows, grass, and Publix, and right outside my gates my neighborhood gas station was robbed 4 times in one month, the next county has stores that are being smashed in with bricks, and items taken, this is all the way through from one end to the other. So once again I dont know if you compare Dunwoody to Henry county, but crime is crime, if you spend the money to live in a safe neighborhood, you should be able to live in a safe neighborhood. But government here is not up on the job, and the safety of the public suffers for it.

[Mishap]

Originally Posted by IMISSNY

hahahahahahahaha, If you are wondering why I am laughing ha ha Bankhead/Hollowell Parkway/ Dunwoody you are joking right. No I live in a gated community in Henry County, were there is nothing but cows, grass, and Publix, and right outside my gates my neighborhood gas station was robbed 4 times in one month, the next county has stores that are being smashed in with bricks, and items taken, this is all the way through from one end to the other. So once again I dont know if you compare Dunwoody to Henry county, but crime is crime, if you spend the money to live in a safe neighborhood, you should be able to live in a safe neighborhood. But government here is not up on the job, and the safety of the public suffers for it.

If you have to live in a gated community and your home isn't 2-3X the median home price, you're probably not in that safe of an area. No matter what you pay...the police officer on the corner (or hanging out in the Dunkin' Donuts) doesn't get that money so there's minimal incentive to make you feel safer.

My experience w/ Henry County was spent in that horrid train stop they call Hampton. Given the courthouse is in the train station and the only reason I'd ever return to that armpit of GA is to fight the completely bogus $300/3pt improper left turn ticket I received while visiting AMS. I'll admit I was unfamiliar w/ the road and was returning to the speedway on a deserted road traveling about 15mph when I apparently didn't make it all the way into the turn lane when I made a left. I didn't hit anyone, slow anyone, or drive recklessly but he saw my NY license and saw easy revenue.

The thing I noticed during my trial was the sheer number of people in trouble for drugs and many were already on parole who had tested positive. I was the only person there fighting a traffic violation which I lost (should have plead guilty when I saw the judge hanging out w/ the cop before the trial). Apparently meth is a hell of a drug down there.

[DuchessOfKvetch]

I'll again reiterate my point that the concept of the "mindless band of blood thirsty thugs roaming the streets looking for victims" has no basis in reality. I'm from the 'hood and have known PLENTY of "thugs". The only time thing they are usually out for is to get paid. That's all. What varies is the lengths they'll go to get what they want. Innocent people do get caught up in their path, but they're aren't people who go around simply looking to catch them for **** and giggles.

Don't get me wrong though. There are some truly nutso people out there on the streets. People who are mentally ill, strung out on drugs, and those famous crack babies everyone always here about. The thing is that incidence of them committing extremely violent crimes is fairly low.

This just reiterates everything I ever heard from my friends in Philly, too - which was also rather "notorious" for its murder rate. There was this perception, based on the statistics alone, that if you stepped out into West Philly you'd risk getting shot immediately. This is certainly not the case. The motives behind homicides are always a mixture, and much of it happens behind closed doors ... not particularly reassuring, but it's not as if there's snipers waiting to shoot people who walk down the street.

Those who grew up in rougher neighborhoods seem to have a more "realistic" approach imo, to the actual situation at hand. But they've learned to "deal" better, and are probably more streetwise. I grew up in a ridiculously "safe" neighborhood, and only in recent years (living in Philly, har) became more streetwise. Quite often that involves just not being stupid.

Similarly, reading the ACTUAL police stats - just to see what kind of crimes go on in which areas - most burglaries or other attacks of stranger-vs-stranger - do not degenerate into violence. But it's still 'aggravated assault' technically, and still can be quite terrifying to the victims involved. I don't think the 'motives' for the crime end up mattering much to the victims... hence the hollering. Motives are more important in determining how to fix/prevent the problem.

I don't think we're necessarily going to reach much agreement here between the different mindsets I've seen posted, though, except on the simple fact that the economic situation has -exacerbated- the negative conditions.

[DuchessOfKvetch]

Originally Posted by Reelist in Atlanta

They can get a carry permit so their protection is not limited to the home. Criminals depend on a largely unarmed populace. If the criminals were pretty sure that most people were armed there would be a lot less crime.

Again - how does this protect you if a guy has a gun to the back of your head, or pulls his out first? OR if you are outnumbered/flanked?

Let's say you have a gun on you, visible to the mugger. He's going to TAKE IT AWAY TOO and disarm you, so you can't even shoot him in the back.

I used to believe in this BS myself when I was younger, then reality set in.

Feh, I dunno. I am sure that having a gun would be a *small* deterrent, in the case of the criminals who wanted as-little-trouble-as-possible, but only if it was prominently displayed, "old west style" - not exactly a picture that I, as a woman, I want to evoke. Not all of us want to carry around heat, or trust ourselves with lethal weapons. I'd be more worried about having it used against me, honestly - or panicking and doing something stupid.

[AcidSnake]

Originally Posted by DuchessOfKvetch

Again - how does this protect you if a guy has a gun to the back of your head, or pulls his out first? OR if you are outnumbered/flanked?

Let's say you have a gun on you, visible to the mugger. He's going to TAKE IT AWAY TOO and disarm you, so you can't even shoot him in the back.

I used to believe in this BS myself when I was younger, then reality set in.

Feh, I dunno. I am sure that having a gun would be a *small* deterrent, in the case of the criminals who wanted as-little-trouble-as-possible, but only if it was prominently displayed, "old west style" - not exactly a picture that I, as a woman, I want to evoke. Not all of us want to carry around heat, or trust ourselves with lethal weapons. I'd be more worried about having it used against me, honestly - or panicking and doing something stupid.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Don't get me wrong, I do have a firearm, but it's shotgun that I keep in my house. Outside of that, I know that I can't be aware of every danger around me and if I carried a handgun on me there are so many possibilities where it can get taken from me and be used against someone else and ultimately against me.

If arming a populace is something we U.S. citizens are moving towards, my hope is that our government should at the very least provide a standardized education system that teaches EVERYONE regardless of whether they hold firearms or not the proper usage of said item.

[DuchessOfKvetch]

I think my biggest issue though, is that I don't want to live among a system that is purely reactionary, not proactive, in regards to crime. It's impossible to gage how effective our current methods at preventing crime are, though, since of course we have no "control group" for comparison; therefore, all we know about is the failures.

I was just reading the Kirkwood Neighborhood forums again. They are still doing a bang-up job of reporting incidents in clear language, and listing the names, mugshots and correction records of the ACTUAL troublemakers. They're also looking into legal recourses against an apartment complex on Bixby that has certain regular issues with supposed gang activity (lots of gunfire, etc). Georgia actually has quite a bit of anti-gang legislature that can hold landlords responsible for leasing to residents engaged in organized criminal activities - I suppose the hard part is proving it.

[Merin]

Any another person was robbed this morning? Goodness.