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No one cares about crime south of I 20.
They just care about what's happening in their precious neighborhoods, and could care less about others. And then they get mad when something happens where they live and act like crime can't come in their safe little bubble.
Really now?Come on lets be serious.I know pwoplw that are very active and doing what they can to reduce crime.
There are several organizations that have always been vocal about crime in that area.Th police are just not representd enough.
I was wondering when people would wake up, particularly the African American community. Our neighborhoods need strong family before economic development.
Some may applaud when more police officers are hired, but I say invest that money in the youth, marriages, and those things that build a strong family unit.
Atlanta's black community is now seeing the harvest of when the Fatherless and Motherless grow up with no guidance. The number one fruit of no guidance is disrespect for all authority and the spirit of murder. There also is fake African American success thing that is going on in Atlanta. I think title like the Hip Hop Capital and Real Housewives of Atlanta portrays are shallowness and superficiality that seduces those without discernment to go after things that have no meaning. It just amazes me with so many so called powerful churches in community, and they are worse off. I think its time for people to get honest about the truth state of what's going on.
Much truth there, Atlwarrior, and those solutions definitely need to be pursued, with vigor and persistence.
In the immediate term, however, crime must be corralled and citizens need to be safe. That has to be done through policing.
I was wondering when people would wake up, particularly the African American community. Our neighborhoods need strong family before economic development.
Some may applaud when more police officers are hired, but I say invest that money in the youth, marriages, and those things that build a strong family unit.
Atlanta's black community is now seeing the harvest of when the Fatherless and Motherless grow up with no guidance. The number one fruit of no guidance is disrespect for all authority and the spirit of murder. There also is fake African American success thing that is going on in Atlanta. I think title like the Hip Hop Capital and Real Housewives of Atlanta portrays are shallowness and superficiality that seduces those without discernment to go after things that have no meaning. It just amazes me with so many so called powerful churches in community, and they are worse off. I think its time for people to get honest about the truth state of what's going on.
I agree with much of what you say Atlwarrior, but I often wonder about the single parent thing going on in that the rise of single parents and fatherless homes in general is much higher than it was even when I was a kid but the level of crimes occurring in all demographics has gone down within the past 20 years especially so I am always wondering if that really correlates to crime rates. I'm sure there is some sort of correlation, but I feel that in general too many people like to take the "easy" way out in regards to crime and black people in general as too many talking points are thrown about and held to one's bosom in the black community here and around the country and no one it seems is really doing much to ensure further decline in these ails.
In regards to the article itself, I do think that lack of police makes a difference in regards to response times and the attitude of law enforcement for a particular area. More police would increase response time and in effect, that would put more of a police presence in specific neighborhoods so I do think that funding police is one of the first, practical steps that can be made.
This is based primarily on me living in a higher crime neighborhood in Atlanta (not in SW Atlanta but it seems everyone thinks any crime ridden neighborhood is in SW Atlanta on the news lol). We were a "weed and seed" community, so got more of a police presence as a result of a grant from the federal government. And that program did decrease crime substantially in our area. Weed and seed is now over and I worry that crime will tick back up as a result of a loss of the high police presence we once had. Our Zone 1 officers though are pretty responsive. I call the police every time I hear gunshots or if I even think there is a drug deal going down and they thank us for residents making sure to call them (we have personal cell numbers of some of the officers on our beat) so having the involvement from police is something that is sorely needed IMO and if that is not occurring in S. Fulton or the SWATs then it would be in the city's best interest to increase patrols in those areas.
But I do think the social issues are something that will be more difficult to address. As you said, many people are lacking in family priorities and parenting skills and this leads to kids getting into trouble.
Fulton County Chairman John Eaves called a crime summit last week at Cascade United Methodist Church in South Fulton, saying, “Enough is enough,” and bringing together top-level public safety officials to explore causes and find a solution.
Fulton County Deputy Police Chief Gary Stiles said although the crime rate is going down, the violence of existing crimes, and the proximity of their young perpetrators, is a major concern..."
I agree with much of what you say Atlwarrior, but I often wonder about the single parent thing going on in that the rise of single parents and fatherless homes in general is much higher than it was even when I was a kid but the level of crimes occurring in all demographics has gone down within the past 20 years especially so I am always wondering if that really correlates to crime rates. I'm sure there is some sort of correlation, but I feel that in general too many people like to take the "easy" way out in regards to crime and black people in general as too many talking points are thrown about and held to one's bosom in the black community here and around the country and no one it seems is really doing much to ensure further decline in these ails.
In regards to the article itself, I do think that lack of police makes a difference in regards to response times and the attitude of law enforcement for a particular area. More police would increase response time and in effect, that would put more of a police presence in specific neighborhoods so I do think that funding police is one of the first, practical steps that can be made.
This is based primarily on me living in a higher crime neighborhood in Atlanta (not in SW Atlanta but it seems everyone thinks any crime ridden neighborhood is in SW Atlanta on the news lol). We were a "weed and seed" community, so got more of a police presence as a result of a grant from the federal government. And that program did decrease crime substantially in our area. Weed and seed is now over and I worry that crime will tick back up as a result of a loss of the high police presence we once had. Our Zone 1 officers though are pretty responsive. I call the police every time I hear gunshots or if I even think there is a drug deal going down and they thank us for residents making sure to call them (we have personal cell numbers of some of the officers on our beat) so having the involvement from police is something that is sorely needed IMO and if that is not occurring in S. Fulton or the SWATs then it would be in the city's best interest to increase patrols in those areas.
But I do think the social issues are something that will be more difficult to address. As you said, many people are lacking in family priorities and parenting skills and this leads to kids getting into trouble.
I simply don't find the evidence that single parenthood is a major contributor to violence among blacks and Hispanics. I mean, hell, Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis lived with both parents, and that wasn't enough to protect them. In some families a child is better with two parents, in others it is better if the parents part ways.
I think that a major cause of the problem is the great unwillingness of residents in crime-ridden neighborhoods to use the police as an asset, in part because of fear of local gangs. But elaborating on that would open a huge can of worms, and I'm in no mood to do that tonight. :P Maybe later.
I simply don't find the evidence that single parenthood is a major contributor to violence among blacks and Hispanics. I mean, hell, Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis lived with both parents, and that wasn't enough to protect them. In some families a child is better with two parents, in others it is better if the parents part ways.
I think that a major cause of the problem is the great unwillingness of residents in crime-ridden neighborhoods to use the police as an asset, in part because of fear of local gangs. But elaborating on that would open a huge can of worms, and I'm in no mood to do that tonight. :P Maybe later.
I actually agree with you in regards to the single parenthood thing. That is why I am on the fence about it. Since the 1970s the single parenthood rates amongst whites and Hispanics have gone up substantially as well (black people have always been higher and over the years our rates of out of wedlock births and single parent homes have actually been slower to rise versus other demographics). Yet crime has gone down. If single parenting were the end all and be all reason for crime to occur, then the decline would not be happening at all and it is declining at a very fast pace in many urban areas with large black, single parent populations so I don't think that that is the primary factor in crime rates.
In regards to your second paragraph, I don't agree.
As I have shared, I live in a bad neighborhood (English Avenue). We are applauded by the police for calling them often for even minor things. Many of my neighbors, including myself have person phone numbers for the officers on our beat and we call them when we see what we even think is a crime. We are not afraid of gangs. Personally, even though I know they are here, I don't see a huge gang culture here in Atlanta and I don't see them as anyone or anything to be afraid of. But in general I am not all that scared of things. Most people who continuously live in these communities are not afraid either in my experience. Those who are, do what they can to move. But I know people who have lived here for 10-40 years in the same place. We are very familiar with who I call our "neighborhood characters." And we know who the trouble makers are, where they are conducting business, if we hear loud disturbances or arguments or even see large groups of men hanging out loitering, we will call the police.
I personally feel that is an unwillingness moreso on the part of police to make those high crime areas a priority when it comes to response times. Most of the time the people in those neighborhoods are poor or are renters and I have heard people say "well what can you expect if you live xyz." People expect the police to be slow or non-responsive, including officers. Many times officers will even harass residents more than criminals. It took me getting heavily involved in my neighborhood community groups for my own family to get a more positive relationship with our beat officers. When I first moved here, they treated everyone like criminals. I was stopped taking my kids to school in the morning quite often the first couple years. My husband was harassed regularly by them in regards to getting pulled over (he got a ticket once for having a break light out that was a small light in the middle of his trunk that he didn't even know was a break light lol). There is a lot of nit picking by police officers in certain neighborhoods, primarily high crime areas.
When Katherine Johnston was killed that ignited a lot of positive change over here between residents and law enforcement but it shouldn't have to take something like that to make such a positive change. Prior to APD really reaching out to us after that and focusing on better community relations - I was more afraid of the police than any of the criminals over here. I know the police have guns unlike the characters walking around who may not, and many times people will believe an officer (most of the time) over that of a resident in a poor neighborhood if something happens where the resident is harassed or hurt. But APD has really reached out to us over here and due to Weed and Seed we had a large police presence. That is the main reason why crime went down so much. We keep in constant contact with our beat commander and we are not afraid of "gang bangers." I don't even know of any gangs in my neighborhood even though I'm sure they are there.
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