El A in 1950's (crimes, shop, gangs)

[MrBR]

Originally Posted by RaymondChandlerLives

"The only reason they don't die is because of medical advances."

If this were true, the incidences of attempted homicide would be much higher than they were in the 70's, 80's, and early 90's, but they've most likely declined as well, debunking your theory.

Bring the stats and if they're lower than the 1950s I will change my mind.

[Exitus Acta Probat]

Originally Posted by MrBR

If you go back to the 1950s/early 1960s Inglewood looked like it came straight from the realm of "Leave It To Beaver"
Boys Beware (1961) - YouTube
Boys sure have a lot more to worry about nowadays like Bloods, Crips, Nortes, and Sureños. I think they'd have a better chance against the 1 or two murders a year then the constant drive bys.
You were born in the 1980s. By that time all the peaceful neighborhoods had decayed into their current state. The only difference is you were born before the Latinos replaced the African Americans.

About ten years ago I watched a rerun of Gidget. In this episode, Gidget was riding around town with her friend and family as they shopped for a new car in the SF Valley. As I watched, it was like I was watching something from a whole different SF Valley, one that died long ago.

[Exitus Acta Probat]

BTW, to all you people who believe we have the same intensity of crime as we did 50 years ago, have a listen to any one of these feeds (or all three) after the sun goes down:

LAPD - Citywide Dispatch and Hot Shots/Code 3
LAPD - Wilshire and Olympic Divisions
Southeast LA County Fire, Sheriff, Police

[Mr. Opinionated]

This hits a home run...

Originally Posted by latino_esq

Ahh yes, back when everybody was your neighbor. Except, of course, African Americans and Latinos who were systematically segregated to such areas South Central LA, Watts, Pacoima, East LA, Elysian Park, etc., in which case, police harassment and incarceration where just a phone call away . And your children were also the beneficiaries since they didn’t have to go to school with these African American and Latino children. Wholesome and utopic indeed. Excuse me, nostalgia always chokes me up.

...But then you have all the ignoramuses who babble on about how LA was so much more peaceful, livable, and wholesome city. They ignore the fact that this time period was so ripe with racial discrimination and segregation (and let’s not forgot “separate but equal”) that it was actually considered normal. Being born in the 1980’s I cannot attest to this personally, but from everything I’ve read and heard, it was not a fun time to be living in if you were part of the minority. Forgive us if we do not feel as nostalgic as you.

I was born near the end of the 1950s, back when many people thought that because darker skin wasn't allowed in their Los Angeles neighborhood, (the cops would pull my Dad over if we ventured north of Slauson Ave. or west of Main Street) that made it 'Leave it to Beaver' perfect. And on a side point, I find it so amazing how the majority of people I read or hear bashing rap music (without realizing or admitting that it is because it is so unashamedly black) are white and are typically ignorant of its relation to pop, rock and roll in the rhythm and blues family tree. Wake up separatists: people of color brought variety, innovation and culture to this country. Not degradation and fear.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by RaymondChandlerLives

The annual homicide rate is considered the best indicator for crime in America because, unlike other crimes, the definition never changes. What is considered a violent crime in 2014 is different than 1960.

(I'd love to post pre-war statistics for violent crime, unfortunately no data exists prior to 1957.)

Homicide is also the hardest crime to conceal.

I can't find a link for prewar violent crime statistics but I have read them. There was a major drop between 1933 and 1936, despite the Great Depression. Hint: it had something to do with certain laws being changed. Second hint: when was the last time anyone killed each other over alcohol distribution?

[majoun]

Originally Posted by Taiko

Have you seen The Wire? The "juking the stats". Politically the criteria will change to either protect a serving official or to move a project or bill forward

Normally they're fudged upwards so police departments can get more money. If crime's on the increase there's more money for cops. Lower crime means less money for PDs.

[MrBR]

Originally Posted by Mr. Opinionated

This hits a home run...


I was born near the end of the 1950s, back when many people thought that because darker skin wasn't allowed in their Los Angeles neighborhood, (the cops would pull my Dad over if we ventured north of Slauson Ave. or west of Main Street) that made it 'Leave it to Beaver' perfect. And on a side point, I find it so amazing how the majority of people I read or hear bashing rap music (without realizing or admitting that it is because it is so unashamedly black) are white and are typically ignorant of its relation to pop, rock and roll in the rhythm and blues family tree. Wake up separatists: people of color brought variety, innovation and culture to this country. Not degradation and fear.

Don't worry. Others in your neighborhood ventured past Slauson, bought houses, and caused property values to crash and now the once idillic suburbs are now decaying wasteland. Everyone suffers.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by MordinSolus

Stop trying to make "El A" happen.



Just as many people were degenerates back then. Society at large just didn't know it. The only reason there's more crime now is narcotics. Back then men would get drunk, slap their wives around, and that was normal. Now people get hooked on drugs, steal from their grandmothers and rob people on the streets to pay for their next fix. Heroin, crack, meth, pain pills, etc are a scourge on society.

In the '50s meth was available by prescription and you could get speed pills over the counter.

Not until the Nixon Administration was meth heavily restricted to the point of being banned - which not only created the illicit meth market, but it also brought back cocaine, which had not been common since before World War II (unless you were part of the wealthy elite of New York City).

As much as I hate meth there were fewer problems when it was legal.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by Mr. Opinionated

This hits a home run...


I was born near the end of the 1950s, back when many people thought that because darker skin wasn't allowed in their Los Angeles neighborhood, (the cops would pull my Dad over if we ventured north of Slauson Ave. or west of Main Street) that made it 'Leave it to Beaver' perfect. And on a side point, I find it so amazing how the majority of people I read or hear bashing rap music (without realizing or admitting that it is because it is so unashamedly black) are white and are typically ignorant of its relation to pop, rock and roll in the rhythm and blues family tree. Wake up separatists: people of color brought variety, innovation and culture to this country. Not degradation and fear.

Good point.

Interestingly, blacks who grew up in the West Adams of the 1950s have compared it to Leave It To Beaver. I'm sure, though, that the inhabitants of West Adams were all too aware of the limitations that their socioeconomic status could not overcome in that era. Limitations that Ward and June Cleaver if they had been real would not have had. Too many of my fellow white-ish/white posters forget that.

[MordinSolus]

Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat

BTW, to all you people who believe we have the same intensity of crime as we did 50 years ago, have a listen to any one of these feeds (or all three) after the sun goes down:

LAPD - Citywide Dispatch and Hot Shots/Code 3
LAPD - Wilshire and Olympic Divisions
Southeast LA County Fire, Sheriff, Police

That's not even anecdotal evidence...

Originally Posted by majoun

Normally they're fudged upwards so police departments can get more money. If crime's on the increase there's more money for cops. Lower crime means less money for PDs.

Not quite. Cops fudge the rates of solved crimes to make it look like they're solving more crimes than they actually are. The higher the crime rate the more likely police chiefs are to lose their jobs. Crime always has to be going down. It's like a corporation and profits, but in reverse.