Homicide rate down this year (Pittsburgh, Bradford: real estate, renters, low crime)
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The KDKA thing did say there were more homicides out of the city than in the city for the first time ever.
I witnessed something rather unusual and terrifying near a suburban convenience store within the past six months.
I didn't realize what was happening until it was too late.
I pulled into an empty convenience store parking lot in the middle of the night (3am perhaps.) A man walked down the street and into the convenience store. A black SUV with tinted windows pulled into the parking space next to me. There were two men inside. I didn't think anything of it. I got out of my car and went into the convenience store.
When I came out of the store, the two men who had been inside the SUV were standing behind the SUV. I couldn't see what they were doing because it was a big vehicle. I assumed they were getting something out of the back or had just walked back from the bar across the street. I got into my car. I noticed through my side view window that one of the men was crouched down behind the SUV but then the men got back into the SUV. I still didn't think anything of it. Maybe something was wrong with the rear tail light.
I was busy getting my stuff in order---arranging my purse, putting my change away, etc. My son was in the passenger seat and said something like "We were just intimidated by the guys in the SUV." I said "What do you mean?" He said they were looking over and punching their fists into their hands. I looked over to glare at them. At the same time, the guy who had walked to the convenience store came out and started walking along the sidewalk in front of the store, then started to cross the parking lot walking towards the street.
The SUV pulled out of its parking place and sped across the parking lot, slamming on the brakes--causing a loud rubber on pavement sound. The car was so big, I couldn't see in the front. Then I noticed that the man on foot was on the ground (THEY HIT HIM WITH THE CAR!) He got up and started running across the street---with a limp---and down a side street. The black SUV gave chase.
Of course, I called the police. One police car was there within a minute, two more immediately followed. All went flying down various side streets. There was no way the black SUV got away. They went into an area where there was only one way out on the other side. I have no idea what happened to the guy on foot, but there was no ambulance. He must have run between yards and gotten home.
I think the difference with this type of violence spreading into the suburbs is that the people who live in the suburbs won't tollerate it. They'll call the police. They'll make police reports. They'll testify. They aren't intimidated into silence. I hope it stays that way and helps keep this type of thing from spreading.
Back in the 80s, I never once saw ANYTHING happen when I lived in North Side and Manchester. 20 years later in the suburbs I see the most frightening thing I've ever saw!
I don't think it was cancelled as much as it ran its course. I'm sure, though, that if it had had excellent ratings they would have squeezed out some more seasons. I wouldn't want to see it without David Simon (the show's creator) in charge. Maybe they will do a movie sometime in the future?
I think the difference with this type of violence spreading into the suburbs is that the people who live in the suburbs won't tollerate it. They'll call the police. They'll make police reports. They'll testify. They aren't intimidated into silence. I hope it stays that way and helps keep this type of thing from spreading.
I think you hit the nail on the head with this one. In the end, the people most responsible for what happens in any given neighborhood are the people who live there. I have the impression that a lot of people in places like Homewood just turn off their porch lights and pretend that nothing is happening on their street. This might be a way to keep oneself perfectly safe, but it doesn't do a thing for one's community.
I had a conversation with someone from Garfield this summer, in which she told me that she was talking to her neighbors and they set their pit bull on her. I was horrified and asked whether she called the cops, and she said "no, I didn't really think that was necessary....". I lost all respect for her at that moment, because you can't ***** about how ****ty your neighborhood is and simultaneously take no responsibility for anything that happens there. The main social difference between Squirrel Hill and Garfield is that in Squirrel Hill nobody would tolerate that kind of anti-social BS behavior from their neighbors. And that's what makes Squirrel Hill a nice place to live and Garfield a crappy place to live.
I've always been of the "zero tolerance" mindset myself. I'm a neighborhood block busybody and proud of it. Something happens in view of my windows, it's getting taken care of, period.
It's just a different mindset in the 'hood. If I saw somebody dealing drugs in front of my house I'd chase them off with a baseball bat and then call the cops. But, those people just look the other way.
It's just a different mindset in the 'hood. If I saw somebody dealing drugs in front of my house I'd chase them off with a baseball bat and then call the cops. But, those people just look the other way.
It's just a different mindset in the 'hood. If I saw somebody dealing drugs in front of my house I'd chase them off with a baseball bat and then call the cops. But, those people just look the other way.
that's tough talk but it's likely false if the cops can't provide you with protection. if you felt that you were putting yourself or your family in harm's way you'd probably think differently. just last week I read a series on Philadelphia dysfunctional system. one guy's entire family (wife and kids) were murdered while he sat in jail (to protect him). you see that happen to your neighbor, you don't open your mouth. Apparently they don't fund the program so many don't receive adequate protection at all. of course, that's only one of the issues (judges not sentencing violent criminals was another..one guy had 23 priors). I haven't seen any similar writeups on pittsburgh's judicial system so I don't have much to compare it to. needless to say, a lot of people in the suburbs are there because they didn't feel like fighting these problems.
zero tolerance is excessive too. obviously some laws are more important than others.
There's also the problem of the police not responding quickly in certain neighborhoods at night. They say that police wait until the gunfire stops. Makes you wonder if they would even respond to a domestic at night. I'm totally clueless on this---just going by what people say.
However, something had to tip a neighborhood into becoming that way. People could deal drugs in front of my house and I most certainly wouldn't hesitate to get the police involved. What happened in these neighborhoods that caused people to stop getting the police involved? I believe there is a don't rat mentality---like the police are the bad guys, the "man" and even law abiding citizens relate more with the neighbors than authority? Don't know.
Then there is the element of entire extended families being involved in a drug business. You report one person to the police and the entire neighborhood is after you. That would be scary. Again, what was the tipping point? How could a neighborhood evolve into this?
I just don't see it happening to my neighborhood. I do believe that my family and our neighbors would go outside with baseball bats. I remember my father going outside with a crow bar to confront some teens hanging out on our corner---in an upscale suburban township. He was a top level executive for a large Pittsburgh corporation. There he was standing in our driveway holding a crow bar while wearing a business suit and tie. Those guys ran like hell. Never came back.
The night of the story I shared, I turned to glare at them for trying to intimidate us. In addition to making it clear that I wasn't to be intimidated, I was also making sure to get a darn good look at their faces! (Meanwhile, I don't think it was meant for us----but getting ready for the guy they were waiting for that was in the store.) I'm a rather small women and I was with a teenager. Those thugs didn't intimidate me. Maybe any sensible person would have left. However, I'm not the type of person to cower, never was, never will be. I'd move before I allowed people to keep me from testifying in court against them.
It's just a different mindset in the 'hood. If I saw somebody dealing drugs in front of my house I'd chase them off with a baseball bat and then call the cops. But, those people just look the other way.
Unfortunately the fear does spread, and people stop talking. Where I work is a nice little residential building in a small town that's getting overrun by the bad element in Oakland and Hayward (California) and I'm starting to hear that people "don't want to make trouble for anyone". Which means cops aren't getting called when they should be.
And I get it -- I truly do. It's a whole other game with these kinds. Several years back, one of local small weekly papers did a great article about some of the innocents being killed. They absolutely were innocent.... but not their relatives. The code of the streets is now Sam and Dave have to die, but if we can't find them, their sweet little cousin Sherry will do in order to send the message.
Murders are down here, but muggings are WAY up. Even so, Oakland CA went up a tick in the most dangerous city to live in catergory. We are now number 3...
What caused that neighborhood to become overrun in the first place?
What I described was a gang or a drug dealer coming into a suburban township where there are no gangs. Maybe the guy in the store ratted on them. Maybe he owed them money. I doubt he was entirely innocent.
I think it's more likely he moved to the suburban township to get away from it all. He sure didn't move here to set up a drug business. There's already established drug dealing in the suburbs. It's not place for a gang to move into. The police would be ALL OVER THAT before it got off the ground.
That's one thing I do appreciate. Suburban police do a good job of keeping things safe. Any hint of anything and they're right there. I do believe that it's important to maintain control. Once a gang moves into a neighborhood and becomes established, I'm sure it's next to impossible for police to do anything about it.
How do the police lose control in other places? Corruption? Or is it the 'let them kill each other' mentality? Or are urban police just lazy? I remember when I lived in North Side, a truck literally pushed my car up onto a sidewalk and almost into a brick wall. It took off down the road. I was standing in the middle of the street trying to flag down a police car and they just kept driving on past. THAT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN IN THE SUBURBS. Police doing that in a suburban township would lose their jobs!
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