Crime in Jacksonville (gated, condo, wages)

[steventiff]

i said its in the top 3. an officer told me that.

[jaxnative]

[SIZE=2]I would say that there is crime in every city, Jax is not an exception. A few years ago there was a study completed in order to determine "blighted" areas of the city for revitalization. These areas were identified by the schools performance. If a school was doing poorly, then the area was targeted for additional attention by JSO and city leaders.
From an observation point only, I think that the areas identified have more low economic issues. If you think about it. Schools in middle or high income areas have parents that pay attention. They are on top of their kids grades, attend PTA and teacher conferences and generally have a stake in how their children perform.
However in these targeted areas most folks are in minimum wage or blue collar employment, have to work several jobs to get by and are generally not available to assist/ support/watch their children in their pursuit of education. When there is noone watching the kids and they are left to themselves then tend to follow their immediate society. (Not that there aren't exceptions)
When these unattended kids grow up they don't have anything to look forward too. (Good Job, College etc.) They tend to fall into the same dismal patterns that their parents were in. I guess what I'm saying is an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If we can all (myself included) do what we can to be positive roll models and do our best to reach out to people in need and try to assist in bettering their future prospects through job training and education maybe we can be the answer to reducing crime in our city.
If you go to volunteerjacksonville.org or coj.net there are programs that have been initiated that need volunteers or just additional funding if you can't spare the time. They are always in need of assistance. Not to sound like Hillary (YUCK) but it takes a village to raise a child. Instead of badmouthing the situation maybe we can do something to prevent it.
OK, Down off my soapbox now, back to your regularly scheduled program.
[/SIZE]

[MzNeekie]

Originally Posted by gradco2004

The problem with your assumption is that it is not supported by statistics. You chosing to isolate a group of people based on your "assumptions" is not socially responsible. If you had posted an article to support your point of view, that would have given you some merit. Its like walking into a robbed convenience store and saying,"I think that blacks probably had something to do with this. You know, there have been an influx of blacks into the neighborhood lately." It is like you are having faith that hurricane transplants are a source of trouble. Bottom line, if you don't post more than an opinion, people will judge you based on what they see. So don't get defensive when someone calls you on it. If you find something that supports your OPINION, then you would make more sense. Perception is not reality, but CLEARLY ignorance is bliss!

*P.S.* I am one of those awful, crime-inducing hurricane transplants!

Apparently you can read, so it must be your comprehension that's a little off. I don't see any spelling errors either so, I'm confused. What part of some, which I put in all caps by the way, do you not understand? Moderator cut: edit. Did you just choose to ignore the fact that I clearly stated it was a possibility? I mean I don't get it. What other way could I have put it? I didn't say "Oooh evavcuees did it!!!" I said, and still think, the fact that many evacuees came here MAY have had a bearing on the increase. This is not what someone has told me and I decided to pass it on. This is my own observation. You know what's so funny about my opinion, no matter what you or anyone else says it won't change. You weren't there with me so I don't expect you to agree. Keep holding on to your precious statistics while I'm out here living life and seeing things with my own eyes. I don't make assumptions, I have opinions. Such intellectuals...

*P.S.* I don't care.

[MzNeekie]

Originally Posted by LuAnn245

my daughter loves those Jack Russells, lol...your forum name is just so cute tho, thanks for sharing ladies!....

Rivera, I know about those stats, but I just remember my son telling me about some Katrina evacuees who came to his school and they were so ruff they had wrestled some of the white girls under the bus, they were black from N. Orleans and had no homes and I suppose they were either just frustrated or mad they had to end up here...I hope by now theyve reconciled their destines, I know the FEMA victims could have not had it worse, oh my gosh, it was just so horrible, so maybe someday ...but I hear ya, hope we dont get anymore probs in our River City....

And what do we have here? Someone else who's open to the possibility and has heard of actual incidents involving an evacuee...Interesting.

Note: If you are an evacuee and you are living peaceably take no offense. I in no way blame every evacuee in Jacksonville. There have just been some incidents while I was in school that I witnessed and things I've heard. I feel like Katrina caused enough pain to last us all a long time. We don't need to be adding more by hurting one another.

-MzNeekie

[gradco2004]

You won MzNeekie! I am extremely ignorant and have no business questioning your intelligence. I truely do apologize. Did I mention that you win?

P.S. I love you & I will send you some rep points. I guess you out pissed me in this pissing contest.

[coco1019]

Newbie here, so I apologize if this may have been discussed before...

I don't understand why it matters if Jacksonville has "real" gangs vs kids who are acting as if they are in a gang. Does it matter? There's still "gang-like" activity...or kids who just act like thugs. But, again, does it matter if they aren't *technically* in a gang if they act like they are (graffiti, beat downs, robbery, assaults, what have you)? I mean, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, flies like a duck, but calls itself a penguin...

[CPOUSNRET]

If you omit black on black crime from the data the crime rate in Jacksonville is really quite good compared to the national average.

[WitchDoctor]

Originally Posted by CPOUSNRET

If you omit black on black crime from the data the crime rate in Jacksonville is really quite good compared to the national average.

Where can a person find that data? I'd like to look at that and do some comparisons. I'm sure others would too.

[ara^bess]

Originally Posted by coco1019

Newbie here, so I apologize if this may have been discussed before...

I don't understand why it matters if Jacksonville has "real" gangs vs kids who are acting as if they are in a gang. Does it matter? There's still "gang-like" activity...or kids who just act like thugs. But, again, does it matter if they aren't *technically* in a gang if they act like they are (graffiti, beat downs, robbery, assaults, what have you)? I mean, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, flies like a duck, but calls itself a penguin...

I totally agree as a mom who just moved her teens out of the area of Jax we lived in for that VERY reason! I lived off of Mayport Road in the Atlantic Beach area...and if ANYONE thinks there isn't gang activity actively going on ...they are in for a big surprise. It isn't extremely organized because they don't have adult participation, but as these kids get older, they will be the adults to the younger ones and organized 'gang families' will become the result.

I don't think it's a race issue, it's more of a poverty and broken family issue. It's not that mom and dad got a divorce and they feel 'split up'. It's that mom is a crack head and dad hasn't bothered to contact them for the past 10 years. They can't financially, and sometimes educationally, compete with the kids from better neighborhoods. They don't have the resources to participate in extracurricular school activites or Little League....so they drop out of school at 12-16 years old...and call themselves home schooled. These kids are broken, hurting, and uneducated with no where to turn but to each other. There are drugs and alcohol, therefore crime, involved. The end result is the same...regardless of what you call it.

It's not about a hurricane or the shade of their skin. It's about kids who are the end result of parents who were too selfish to put their kids FIRST. These kids have lost in every arena....and no one cares. So they end up caring for each other...and this becomes a gang family mentality.

I've known some of these kids since they were elementary age. It makes me so sad I almost cried when I tried to type it.

[travelingfood]

Report: Gangs Growing In Florida, Jacksonville - Jacksonville News Story - WJXT Jacksonville