Another urban legend: Phoenix "kidnappings" (Mesa, Scottsdale: 2009, car insurance)

[fcorrales80]

While we've talking about the kidnappings in Phoenix really having nothing to do with actual kidnappings, I think the media has much to do with this inaccurate myth and the nickname of "kidnapping capital of the U.S." Here is some media coverage of the actuality of this situation:

Phoenix police Sgt. Tommy Thompson took a telephone call not long ago from a Florida couple who were driving their motor home through Arizona and wanted to know if they should avoid Phoenix.
The folks from the Sunshine State had heard on TV that Phoenix was the "kidnapping capital" of the nation and the second-worst city for kidnapping in the entire world. They wondered if they should bypass Arizona since they couldn't afford a big ransom.
"I also talked to the parents of a kid who was coming here to learn how to be a diesel mechanic," Thompson said. "They asked if it was too dangerous to send him. I even talked to somebody from the Sheboygan Chamber of Commerce about these same safety concerns."

Where did all this angst come from?
"I started getting calls from all over the country, all over the world really, after ABC broadcast their story," Thompson said.
That was in February. The TV folks had learned that the Phoenix Police Department had a special unit to deal with what has become a near constant stream of ransom kidnappings linked to drug-smuggling and human-smuggling gangs out of Mexico. The department let a news crew monitor their operation. In the subsequent ABC report, Phoenix is described as "the kidnapping capital of America, with more incidents than any other city in the world outside of Mexico City."
The label stuck. And not just with outsiders. Politicians looking to push an anti-illegal-immigrant agenda have jumped on the phrase. State Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, for instance, wrote a guest column for The Arizona Republic in which he said: "Phoenix runs second in the world in kidnappings and third in the United States for violence . . . "
I've left word with Pearce asking where he got his statistics but he hasn't gotten back to me. Perhaps because violent crimes (murder, rape, assaults) are down in Phoenix.
As for the kidnapping claim, once something like that becomes part of the national lexicon there is no going back, particularly when the label reflects both reality and myth.
Sgt. Thompson puts it this way, "Does anyone know how many kidnappings there are in Bogotá? In Mogadishu? In Baghdad?"
For that matter, does anyone know how many there are in Los Angeles? In San Diego? In Houston? Or other big cities in border states?
"We (in Phoenix) recognized that we have a problem and we are doing something about it," Thompson said. "We're also not afraid to talk about it. A lot of people are."
Phoenix is upfront about the roughly 370 kidnappings each year linked to criminal smuggling gangs. Other cities may not keep track of the problem in the same way or may simply avoid speaking about it publicly.
And for good reason. I'm no expert, but "kidnapping capital" doesn't strike me as the best slogan for a tourist town.
So I asked Thompson if visitors or residents should be quaking in fear.
"We're talking about drop houses where people who have used coyotes to get into the country may be held for ransom," Thompson said. "And we're talking about the kidnapping of smugglers and associates. I have no fear that my kids or grandkids will be victims. Or that E.J. Montini will be a victim."
Nuanced reporting is not the goal of every news operation that swoops into town for the kidnapping story, however. Particularly Europeans, according to Thompson.
"The folks from overseas want an old movie Western," he said. "They want Clint Eastwood in a serape with a flat-brimmed hat."
I wonder if they would settle for Sheriff Joe?

Is Phoenix really the 'kidnapping capital'?

[badamson]

good post. The kidnapping problem is real, but it is restricted to illegal alien riff raff and not something ordinary people need to worry about...aside from the potential long term effects of importing an impoverished culture of criminality en masse.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by badamson

good post. The kidnapping problem is real, but it is restricted to illegal alien riff raff and not something ordinary people need to worry about...aside from the potential long term effects of importing an impoverished culture of criminality en masse.

Which is another reason to close/lock at least our southern border.

[azdr0710]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

Which is another reason to close/lock at least our southern border.

you know it's WAY more complicated than that politically-expedient call for action........

I'm no liberal at all, but a big mean fence will do nothing at all....oh-so-righteous politicians love that stuff, though.....

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by azdr0710

you know it's WAY more complicated than that politically-expedient call for action........

I'm no liberal at all, but a big mean fence will do nothing at all....oh-so-righteous politicians love that stuff, though.....

Why wouldn't it? China kept out the Mongolians and Manchurians with their wall. Everyone just assumes it's a silly idea but I'm not talking about the chicken wire or half-a$# walls that you see today.

Please explain how a legitimate 500 billion dollar project that involved constructing an actual 100 ft wall with a full time national guard troop or soldiers that was monitored 24/7 and had specific entrance points would not function. Furthermore, unlike 200 B.C., we have technology now meaning we could electronically link the entire wall together so that if crossers tried to bulldoze or explode portions of it, it would send a signal allerting the area that is being damaged so that action could take place.

The only real solution is a wall. All the other ideas do not work. There is no political solution that will make everyone happy. Amnesty won't work. Temporary work visas won't work because they ultimately want to live here. Giving money to Mexico to help them develop their industry won't work because their government is corrupt and the money will not likely benefit the people who need it.

Let's not talk about big mean fences or anything trivial. When I mean a wall, I mean a WALL. Of course, this would make too much sense. There is a great Time magazine article called the Great Wall of America (it's the cover) I implore anyone to read that. The article discusses how effectives these walls are especially in the southwestern border of Arizona and Mexico.

[azriverfan.]

The Great Wall of America - TIME

Here is an excerpt from the article

Something's Working Two years ago, Yuma Sector was the busiest jurisdiction in the entire border patrol. This 118-mile (190 km) stretch of border in western Arizona and eastern California was a well-known gap through which people and drugs flowed north while guns and money went south. The harsh desert on either side was crosshatched with smugglers' roads, trampled by the footprints of thousands of "walkers," some of whom dropped dead from thirst. In the city of San Luis, Ariz., so-called banzai runs were a near nightly occurrence. Scores of people would gather on the Mexican side and dash across a nearly open border toward the American neighborhoods. CBP agents could stop only as many as they could grab; the rest dodged past and melted into the city.

Then came the fence builders. Now a formidable triple barrier runs through town: three fences, the tallest 20 ft. (6 m) high, separated by floodlit corridors watched 24/7 by beefed-up patrols. Agent Eric Anderson, a three-year veteran, recalled a day in his rookie year when Yuma Sector nabbed 800 illegal aliens. "Some days now, we see zero coming through here," he said. East of San Luis, the triple fence becomes a double line, then a single tall fence, until it reaches the rugged Gila mountains. Beyond the range, the fence resumes, but now it's in the deep Sonoran Desert. The design here is steel posts, about 4 ft. (1 m) high, filled with concrete to thwart plasma torches and linked by surplus railroad iron. This fence is intended to stop cars, not walkers--but anyone crossing out here must be ready for a parched hike of 30 miles (48 km) or more, through cactus lands and bombing ranges, to the nearest road. That's a dwindling population, said CBP helicopter pilot Gabriel Mourik. "I used to catch 100 people in a day," Mourik said. "Yesterday, it was just one."

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

Why wouldn't it? China kept out the Mongolians and Manchurians with their wall. Everyone just assumes it's a silly idea but I'm not talking about the chicken wire or half-a$# walls that you see today.

Please explain how a legitimate 500 billion dollar project that involved constructing an actual 100 ft wall with a full time national guard troop or soldiers that was monitored 24/7 and had specific entrance points would not function. Furthermore, unlike 200 B.C., we have technology now meaning we could electronically link the entire wall together so that if crossers tried to bulldoze or explode portions of it, it would send a signal allerting the area that is being damaged so that action could take place.

The only real solution is a wall. All the other ideas do not work. There is no political solution that will make everyone happy. Amnesty won't work. Temporary work visas won't work because they ultimately want to live here. Giving money to Mexico to help them develop their industry won't work because their government is corrupt and the money will not likely benefit the people who need it.

Let's not talk about big mean fences or anything trivial. When I mean a wall, I mean a WALL. Of course, this would make too much sense. There is a great Time magazine article called the Great Wall of America (it's the cover) I implore anyone to read that. The article discusses how effectives these walls are especially in the southwestern border of Arizona and Mexico.

It will never happen, I can guarantee that. The reason is deep down the people in Arizona want the illegals here. If you build a wall and deport all of them, there is going to be serious consequences. For example, they do the work citizens of this country will not do, but needs to get done. Not only that, they do it for dirt cheap. My friend told me that Sheriff Joe really started cracking down on illegals not to long ago. But, there was an outcry. One example would be the people of Scottsdale and Paradise Valley were now having to pay way more for landscapers and house cleaners. I personally have no problem with them as most of them are good hearted people with good intentions. I also do not blame them for wanting to leave Mexico and start a better life. The only problem I have had with them is driving without car insurance, and running in to me, and then taking off.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by las vegas drunk

It will never happen, I can guarantee that. The reason is deep down the people in Arizona want the illegals here. If you build a wall and deport all of them, there is going to be serious consequences. For example, they do the work citizens of this country will not do, but needs to get done. Not only that, they do it for dirt cheap. My friend told me that Sheriff Joe really started cracking down on illegals not to long ago. But, there was an outcry. One example would be the people of Scottsdale and Paradise Valley were now having to pay way more for landscapers and house cleaners. I personally have no problem with them as most of them are good hearted people with good intentions. I also do not blame them for wanting to leave Mexico and start a better life. The only problem I have had with them is driving without car insurance, and running in to me, and then taking off.

I do have a problem with those criminals from SoB, etc. being here; if the aforementioned Yuppies 'cannot' pay appropriate wages for legal help------------tough. Said Yuppies need to be in one of Sheriff Joe's jails if they keep it up.

Besides: with our high unemployment rate; those 'jobs that Americans won't do' are looking pretty damn good to the jobless locals. As it is; I am seeing more stereotypically looking 'Anglo' folks landscaping, etc. as of late.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by azdr0710

you know it's WAY more complicated than that politically-expedient call for action........

I'm no liberal at all, but a big mean fence will do nothing at all....oh-so-righteous politicians love that stuff, though.....

Funny: Hispanic Spain is/was having/had a huge illegal alien problem with Africans, etc. trying to jump the border of that nation's enclave in N Africa hence the need for a high fence.

Remember the Berlin Wall? It was quiet effective in keeping the E Germans out of the west----------never mind that most people on both sides did not want the damn thing.

[johnnyb588]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

Why wouldn't it? China kept out the Mongolians and Manchurians with their wall. Everyone just assumes it's a silly idea but I'm not talking about the chicken wire or half-a$# walls that you see today.

Please explain how a legitimate 500 billion dollar project that involved constructing an actual 100 ft wall with a full time national guard troop or soldiers that was monitored 24/7 and had specific entrance points would not function. Furthermore, unlike 200 B.C., we have technology now meaning we could electronically link the entire wall together so that if crossers tried to bulldoze or explode portions of it, it would send a signal allerting the area that is being damaged so that action could take place.

The only real solution is a wall. All the other ideas do not work. There is no political solution that will make everyone happy. Amnesty won't work. Temporary work visas won't work because they ultimately want to live here. Giving money to Mexico to help them develop their industry won't work because their government is corrupt and the money will not likely benefit the people who need it.

Let's not talk about big mean fences or anything trivial. When I mean a wall, I mean a WALL. Of course, this would make too much sense. There is a great Time magazine article called the Great Wall of America (it's the cover) I implore anyone to read that. The article discusses how effectives these walls are especially in the southwestern border of Arizona and Mexico.

While a $500 billion wall with a full-time guard might work pretty well, it wouldn't be worth it. It's as simple as that. The cost is astronomical, and it would not be worth it in any way.