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Old 08-12-2012, 08:29 PM
 
3 posts, read 7,121 times
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Good morning El Paso!

El Paso is known as the second safest city in the US. Does Fort Bliss have a contributing factor to this statement? It would seem to me that evildoers are deterred by such a Large military presenceIn this city. Has there been an instance where the army was called to come and protect El Pasoans from evildoers?
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Old 08-12-2012, 08:52 PM
 
Location: Glory Road - El Paso, Texas (R.O)
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El Paso is a hub for the FBI and the DEA. We have both a police department and a sheriffs office. Maybe the image of Fort Bliss contributes to our safety but active military have never intervened on our behalf. For the most part, the problems in Mexico stay in Mexico. You have to go back to June of 2010 to find any spillover incident with teeth.
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Old 08-12-2012, 10:19 PM
 
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I don't really think that the presence of Fort Bliss wards off any criminal activity spilling over from Mexico into El Paso; but our judicial system does make them think twice that the USA does not mess around. Our police force is usually pretty prompt in catching criminals of all sorts, so the answer is no! a military presence wouldn't stop evil doers from carrying out evil deeds against military or civilian targets, I mean just look at Foot Hood or Fort Bragg? they have had bad incidents happen to them and they are pretty big bases.
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Old 08-13-2012, 07:25 AM
 
Location: Sacramento Mtns of NM
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Ft. Bliss actually contributes to the "statistics" when it comes to police related problems around the city. Just yesterday there was ANOTHER soldier killed on his motorcycle while traveling over Trans Mountain hiway.

El Paso has a large ICE presence to deal with border problems, to say nothing of National Guard and other government supported peace keeping resources. The military has its own responsibilities that do not overlap onto local law enforcement.

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Old 08-13-2012, 11:04 AM
 
Location: Stasis
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Fort Bliss doesn't deter criminal activity in El Paso. If anything it contributes to it.

I'd break it down into these categories:
1) hormones - deadly and none deadly incidents with young men and cars, young men and alcohol - accidents, bar fights...
2) stress & PTSD - deadly and non deadly incidents - including shooting of strangers
3) deadly and non deadly domestic disputes
4) bad apples -criminal activity - including stabbing a cab driver on base to steal his money

It doesn't help that the Base Commmander had this attitude to PTSD:
"I have now come to the conclusion that suicide is an absolutely selfish act. I am personally fed up with soldiers who are choosing to take their own lives so that others can clean up their mess. Be an adult, act like an adult, and deal with your real-life problems like the rest of us" Fort Bliss General Retracts Statement Saying Soldiers Who Commit Suicide Commit 'Selfish' Act | News - Home
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Old 08-18-2012, 12:00 AM
 
Location: SoCal
1,242 posts, read 1,945,938 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by joqua View Post
Ft. Bliss actually contributes to the "statistics" when it comes to police related problems around the city. Just yesterday there was ANOTHER soldier killed on his motorcycle while traveling over Trans Mountain hiway.

El Paso has a large ICE presence to deal with border problems, to say nothing of National Guard and other government supported peace keeping resources. The military has its own responsibilities that do not overlap onto local law enforcement.

Agreed, you and katzpaw are right. Bliss soldiers (I'm one of them) are a roudy bunch. Our "Days since the last soldier death" counter rarely reaches 10 it seems. That's sad. But I blame the Army for a lot of that. Some units on Bliss are some of the most frequently deployed units in the entire military. These soldiers are repetedly sent to combat, have staggering divorce rates, suicide rates, DUI rates, arrests, abuse...you name it. Work/combat stress is a big factor in it all. The Army IMO doesn't really care about the welfare of it's personel, sadly its only concern is "mission first" and that's not the right thing.
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Old 08-18-2012, 01:44 AM
 
47,525 posts, read 69,668,317 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Future_Pasoan View Post
Good morning El Paso!

El Paso is known as the second safest city in the US. Does Fort Bliss have a contributing factor to this statement? It would seem to me that evildoers are deterred by such a Large military presenceIn this city. Has there been an instance where the army was called to come and protect El Pasoans from evildoers?
Fort Bliss might help in that it brings us a stable economy with lots of money coming in, lots of jobs - El Paso missed out on the recession. I don't think the army is ever really used to stop anything but I don't know if it could be a deterrence.

I think a lot of it is that evil doers have options, here we have cameras everywhere. If you're going to do certain crimes, it's better just to go to the other side of the border and do them where the chances of getting caught are much lower. Plus they weren't fighting over El Paso, they were fighting for control over Juarez.

Homicides in Juarez have dropped significantly.
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Old 08-19-2012, 07:06 AM
 
Location: Irving, Tx
524 posts, read 1,369,271 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MB8abovetherim View Post
Agreed, you and katzpaw are right. Bliss soldiers (I'm one of them) are a roudy bunch. Our "Days since the last soldier death" counter rarely reaches 10 it seems. That's sad. But I blame the Army for a lot of that. Some units on Bliss are some of the most frequently deployed units in the entire military. These soldiers are repetedly sent to combat, have staggering divorce rates, suicide rates, DUI rates, arrests, abuse...you name it. Work/combat stress is a big factor in it all. The Army IMO doesn't really care about the welfare of it's personel, sadly its only concern is "mission first" and that's not the right thing.
Very well stated...I KNOW>.that Fort Bliss contributes to the crime rate..but crime is NOT that high in my hometown of ELP anyway..ELp has changed alot since there are so many military coming in and living there...I NO longer want to go back to my hometown to live my days..even if my family is there..!!
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Old 08-19-2012, 08:45 AM
 
404 posts, read 860,142 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by XChucoresident View Post
I NO longer want to go back to my hometown to live my days..even if my family is there..!!
I use to say the very same words then one day I ended eating my words; you just never know what life is going to bring you or whats ahead.
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Old 08-19-2012, 10:25 AM
 
47,525 posts, read 69,668,317 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by XChucoresident View Post
Very well stated...I KNOW>.that Fort Bliss contributes to the crime rate..but crime is NOT that high in my hometown of ELP anyway..ELp has changed alot since there are so many military coming in and living there...I NO longer want to go back to my hometown to live my days..even if my family is there..!!
Yes -- it would be kind of goofy to proclaim that El Paso has the lowest crime rate in the world and then wring your hands over Fort Bliss contributing to it. That would actually mean Fort Bliss helps make El Paso the safest city in the world.

However that's never what is implied by the Fort Bliss haters. They want to give the impression that our US soldiers are nothing but a bunch of low life riff-raff, but in reality the violent crime rate here is very low.
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