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This is my immediate neighborhood. I support the 5 pts association campaign for brighter bulbs in the city lamps throughout the area. It's a small change, won't cost too much nd would a&e a big diff as far as reducing the number of guns pulled.
brighter bulbs isn't going to change anything, someone brazen enough to pull a gun in the middle of the sidewalk on a saturday night isn't likely to be scared off by some brighter lights.
someone mentioned in one of the threads around about the recent shooting (I don't know if it was this one or one of the other ones) that the smoking ban in Columbia may have something to do with the increase in crime in 5 points. I don't live in Columbia now so I don't know if or exactly how things have changed since I left (in late 2009 so it was right when things started going down hill up there, at least from my perspective) but when I was living up there and frequenting 5 points (far more often than I should) the people who were actually going to the bars down there weren't really the ones that you had to worry about from a violence stand point (aside from the occasional drunken fight). The people who were just "hanging out" on the side walks and outside of bars were the ones who caused most of the problems.
I mention the smoking ban here because, when the smoking ban went into effect most smokers (myself one of them) were forced to go stand on the sidewalk when they wanted to smoke since most of the bars down there don't have an outdoors area (I know Saloon and Jakes both had one, I think Group had one, the place on the corner of Greene and Harden had one but their name escapes me at the moment and I cant really think off the top of my head anywhere else that had a separate area that you could smoke in without being on the sidewalk). More people on the sidewalks, in addition to creating a safety hazard (big groups standing in the middle of the sidewalk sometimes forced people to step out into the road to get by) makes it that much more difficult for the police to distinguish between those who are just trying to enjoy themselves and those who are potentially looking to cause trouble.
brighter bulbs isn't going to change anything, someone brazen enough to pull a gun in the middle of the sidewalk on a saturday night isn't likely to be scared off by some brighter lights.
someone mentioned in one of the threads around about the recent shooting (I don't know if it was this one or one of the other ones) that the smoking ban in Columbia may have something to do with the increase in crime in 5 points. I don't live in Columbia now so I don't know if or exactly how things have changed since I left (in late 2009 so it was right when things started going down hill up there, at least from my perspective) but when I was living up there and frequenting 5 points (far more often than I should) the people who were actually going to the bars down there weren't really the ones that you had to worry about from a violence stand point (aside from the occasional drunken fight). The people who were just "hanging out" on the side walks and outside of bars were the ones who caused most of the problems.
I mention the smoking ban here because, when the smoking ban went into effect most smokers (myself one of them) were forced to go stand on the sidewalk when they wanted to smoke since most of the bars down there don't have an outdoors area (I know Saloon and Jakes both had one, I think Group had one, the place on the corner of Greene and Harden had one but their name escapes me at the moment and I cant really think off the top of my head anywhere else that had a separate area that you could smoke in without being on the sidewalk). More people on the sidewalks, in addition to creating a safety hazard (big groups standing in the middle of the sidewalk sometimes forced people to step out into the road to get by) makes it that much more difficult for the police to distinguish between those who are just trying to enjoy themselves and those who are potentially looking to cause trouble.
That was me who posted that in one of these threads talking about it and thats exactly why I was saying that because I have seen numerous occasions where an accidental bump or what not will escalate into a fight which the ones I have witness had the potential to escalate even further, all due to people not having enough space to get by one another since you have mass amounts of people walking outside to smoke. Also when you think about this crowd that walks outside to smoke, the number of smokers easily doubles if not triples in Five Points with those who only smoke when they drink, and all the friends of those smokers as well. I myself am also a smoker and in our group of friends that go out, two of us smoke, the other two or three dont but will still walk outside with us as does most groups of friends down there, so there are points in some cases where you may have more people standing outside than inside and way too many on the sidewalk. Plus like you said, it is hard to single out those causing trouble from those there to have a good time. I dont think it would hurt anything if the city lifted the smoking ban in Five Points bars. You can leave the ban in the rest of the city if you would like but allow for Five Points to have it lifted.
it doesn't even need to be lifted completely in 5 points...they could easily lift the ban after 10 p.m. (just as an example time) and solve all of the issues that the smoking ban has created while still having a smoke free environment most of the time.
it looks like the "problem bar" is going to be closing down anyway, lets see if that makes a difference...I doubt it.
And in the least it's worth trying.
Brighter lights mean less dark alleys,
more visibility and less crime.
Re smoking ban
This is a non issue. The overall
Smoking rate is in decline. Starbucks move
To enforce the smoking ban outside there stores
has been. Dry successful and public ally embraced
WTF....I cant believe this guy expects anybody to feel sorry for him.. Aside from the fact that he is being labeled by RCSD as being a gang hang out.. He owes the State of SC 18k in back taxes.. Please close sir.. and let the space be rented to another business that adds to the community ..lets us move on.. there is nothing to see here
WTF....I cant believe this guy expects anybody to feel sorry for him.. Aside from the fact that he is being labeled by RCSD as being a gang hang out.. He owes the State of SC 18k in back taxes.. Please close sir.. and let the space be rented to another business that adds to the community ..lets us move on.. there is nothing to see here
Seems to me that although his venue may be a nuisance, he is the scapegoat for the police departments' inability to get anything done. Lott seems to think that by eliminating the hang-out for these gangs that they'll go away, and in reality they just move somewhere else (like when he went after the nuisance bars off Two Notch, and the gangs moved to five points!).
Maybe the better solution would be to station multiple members of the gang unit in that bar every night, and the bad apples would eventually be arrested or move somewhere else. Instead, we get to play another game of "whack-a-mole" and wait for them to pop up in another unlucky venue.
WTF....I cant believe this guy expects anybody to feel sorry for him.. Aside from the fact that he is being labeled by RCSD as being a gang hang out.. He owes the State of SC 18k in back taxes.. Please close sir.. and let the space be rented to another business that adds to the community ..lets us move on.. there is nothing to see here
I have no sympathy for this guy. Bar owners seem to take the attitude of whatever the cost to others, I will let whoever in my bar even if they are gangs. This guy knows these are not just young black kids but are gang members. Who knows, maybe he gets a kickback to be quiet. Glad he is gone. But, other bars also need to know that CPD and the sheriff will close them as well if they let this happen. Maybe the gangs will move on to another city.
Did you all catch Lott's remark that basically said that Columbia PD needs so many levels of permission that there could easily be security leaks so he bypassed informing them of the investigation. This is a serious issue. He was not slamming the CPD but he was slamming its structure. To many people have their thumbs in the CPD business.
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Brighter bulbs will help
