Official Greater Philadelphia Area Crime Thread (Jefferson, Felton: middle-class, title, education)

[kyb01]

So can we get back to what this thread is about? Evidently no one here cares right now about the "incident" at KoP Mall or the ongoing mess with the teen murders in S. Philly which, as an extension, caused the lock down of both Hallahan(briefly) and Roman High Schools.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by 2002 Subaru

West Oak Lane:
http://6abc.com/video-shows-suspect-...oting/2584054/
I always thought West Oak Lane was a decent neighborhood, but I read about what seems like a lot of murders and other crimes there. Is it now 'hood?'

East Oak Lane is better.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by AJNEOA

I can't agree with that either. There are a lot of angry violent people in this city; I see it in the way they drive, the way they protest, the way they post signs in their windows. And that's ignoring all the violence on the streets.

You can't be so unaware of the city's past history(?). My granddad made suits for Italian mobsters in the 1920s during Prohibition. According to what my grand parents used to talk about there were frequent shootings where they lived at 57th/58th and Vine which was primarily an Italian neighborhood. There were Speakeasies on 60th St? in W. Philly. Eastern State Pen was loaded with criminals so much so that it was expanded several times.

Obviously I'd like to see violent crime greatly reduced! But it's naive to think today's anger is new. You know better.

[AJNEOA]

Originally Posted by kyb01

You can't be so unaware of the city's past history(?). My granddad made suits for Italian mobsters in the 1920s during Prohibition. According to what my grand parents used to talk about there were frequent shootings where they lived at 57th/58th and Vine which was primarily an Italian neighborhood. There were Speakeasies on 60th St? in W. Philly. Eastern State Pen was loaded with criminals so much so that it was expanded several times.

Obviously I'd like to see violent crime greatly reduced! But it's naive to think today's anger is new. You know better.

Did I say it was new? No, I didn't. But it has continued and evolved and I suppose because there were speakeasies on 60th street in the 1920s, I should be content with the state of our city and country?

The truth is that there are 14,000 homicides in our country so far this year. ~260 murders in the city; not good. And that's not including all the other violent crime. For such a rich country, the violence and tension is through the roof. Maybe you've just lived in it too long to see that things should be much better?

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by kyb01

So can we get back to what this thread is about? Evidently no one here cares right now about the "incident" at KoP Mall or the ongoing mess with the teen murders in S. Philly which, as an extension, caused the lock down of both Hallahan(briefly) and Roman High Schools.

That was shocking, have they released any info about the perpetrator? My parents were actually at Lord & Taylor the day before, and always park right by that deck!

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by AJNEOA

Did I say it was new? No, I didn't. But it has continued and evolved and I suppose because there were speakeasies on 60th street in the 1920s, I should be content with the state of our city and country?

The truth is that there are 14,000 homicides in our country so far this year. ~260 murders in the city; not good. And that's not including all the other violent crime. For such a rich country, the violence and tension is through the roof. Maybe you've just lived in it too long to see that things should be much better?

Of course I would like things to be better especially wrt violent crime. Things actually are better regarding certain things. I don't have to live in the closet now(folks like cpomp have never had that experience probably). When I go to visit my niece in Birmingham, AL, I don't see "colored" signs and do not fear walking around at all. These changes have happened in my lifetime. Feels like you think things are worse. Do you feel that way? I do not.

When Street was mayor the homicides in the city were double what they are now. There has been progress though, obviously, not enough.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by cpomp

That was shocking, have they released any info about the perpetrator? My parents were actually at Lord & Taylor the day before, and always park right by that deck!

Not yet.

[AJNEOA]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Of course I would like things to be better especially wrt violent crime. Things actually are better regarding certain things. I don't have to live in the closet now(folks like cpomp have never had that experience probably). When I go to visit my niece in Birmingham, AL, I don't see "colored" signs and do not fear walking around at all. These changes have happened in my lifetime. Feels like you think things are worse. Do you feel that way? I do not.

When Street was mayor the homicides in the city were double what they are now. There has been progress though, obviously, not enough.

Long-term trends from the 90s to now show some improvement with violence for sure. Although a big part of the murder dip is due to policing strategies after shots are fired and saving lives in ERs. Basically, reactive strategies make up for a big part of that homicide by gun stat.

In terms of racial issues, policy and other improvements have made life better for many, but I see a big rebound in flight with BLM (and opposing groups/people), hate on police officers, etc. Here's something that's a key indicator of said rebound:

Racial incidents rock area schools. Now what?

Trump's presidency is a reflection of our society, and it has created several societal clashes in a short period of time. Combine that with rising racial challenges and I think it's indicative that the USA has NOT settled some major problems. Violence has started to rise again over the past two years. Look at Philly's murder stat (which is a weak stat overall, but still indicative of a problem):

https://www.phillypolice.com/crime-maps-stats/

Up 12% from last year. Combine that with the constant celebrated shootings (e.g. Las Vegas) and I'm not convinced we're on the right track. I mean, does anyone really think things are continuing to get better? High crime (compared to other industrial countries), poor public schools (yes, even the suburban ones), extremely high cost of university, continued healthcare meltdown, poor national transit and continued infrastructure challenges, governmental budget failures (no budgets!), growing divide between the rich and poor. Many of those things are not crime, but they impact crime in a big way.

And it's not all bad. I love Philly and the USA. It's just sad when everyone is constantly fighting one another (e.g. right v left) while both want the same thing; safety and prosperity for the younger generations.

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Of course I would like things to be better especially wrt violent crime. Things actually are better regarding certain things. I don't have to live in the closet now(folks like cpomp have never had that experience probably). When I go to visit my niece in Birmingham, AL, I don't see "colored" signs and do not fear walking around at all. These changes have happened in my lifetime. Feels like you think things are worse. Do you feel that way? I do not.

When Street was mayor the homicides in the city were double what they are now. There has been progress though, obviously, not enough.

From a millenial perspective, I think social media plays a huge role wrt to everything going on in the USA and around the world, much of it postive and certainly a lot of it negative. Even with all of that, I am happy to be alive and young in 2017.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by AJNEOA

And it's not all bad. I love Philly and the USA. It's just sad when everyone is constantly fighting one another (e.g. right v left) while both want the same thing; safety and prosperity for the younger generations.

I don't think Americans will ever stop fighting one another. I just looked this up as a reminder re our past and the 1800 election. From Jefferson's camp wrt Adams, "hideous, hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman." In return Adams' men called VP Jefferson " a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father." Sigh....

As far as our progress being stalled again and again. Absolutely one of the worst days of my life was June 6, 1968 when Bobby Kennedy was assassinated, with MLK being killed the previous April, Malcolm X in 1965 and JFK in 1963. Stonewall was a milestone but for me personally a lot of potential progress ended for many years to come on that day in June.