4 murders overnight in san antonio

[TXtrkgrl]

Originally Posted by sapphire

There are opportunities out there--they just choose to ignore them.

Wish I could rep ya

[Rhetorikolas]

I'm just glad people are concerned about the well being of this town.

Crime rates are going up, not as bad as the 90s, yet at the same time we want to prevent it from happening again.

One way to do so is to insure domestic tranquility is to have a cooperative program between civilians and law enforcement units. With the ease of new technologies, civilians can easily be the eyes and ears for the law. We can have online maps and streaming video that reveal the locations of past crimes, and when patterns emerge, we can predict the possibility of future crimes. Not entirely "Minority Report", but the ability to prevent crime isn't far off since history repeats itself.

Just like we have weather and traffic condition predictions and reports, we can also have crime warnings in relevant areas. These should not be used to give the public fear, yet a sense of security and awareness. {Unlike the Homeland Security Threat Levels, which do nothing to stop terrorism, only makes the public fear traveling and joining together as a community}

When people are given knowledge, it reduces the fear of the unknown-which could amount to a greater fear when danger is eminent.

=======

Crime happens all over this town, and it's continuously spreading into the neighborhoods that are considered better off. Burglary and theft, vandalism, and so forth. These are increasingly common in our neighborhoods. In order to deter these crimes, we need more watchdog groups, not run by private contractors-whom are susceptible to bribes, but by the public eye.

For instance, some neighborhoods have a few entrances to their communities, a single high quality camera can be posted to monitor the in and out activity of that location. Although this might not see foot traffic that could cross over fences. Though it could monitor suspicious looking vehicles that might be scoping out houses to victimize prior to any incident.


With a city as sprawled out as San Antonio, it's real hard to manage such a wide area. We should support more localized building near the center of the town, more high rise apartment buildings and sustainable technologies in those areas.

Consider a city like New York*, a metro of over 18,796,306 inhabitants, and it has a crime rate smaller than San Antonio {surrounding population: 1,975,770, year 2007}

New York City* Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter:
Rate per 100,000 inhabitants- 4.5

San Antonio Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter:
Rate per 100,000 inhabitants- 7.1

*New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA M.S.A.


What does this tell you? Well consider the collapse of the Roman Empire, when it tried to cover all the land, its forces spread too thin, it was susceptible to invasion (and corruption). We should keep that in mind as we continuously sprawl outwards (extremely unsustainable).

We should demand implosion and repair of our infrastructure, along with a metro rail [Like Dallas's Dart system] to provide greater care for our inhabitants.



Source: Table 6 - Crime in the United States 2007 (http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2007/data/table_06.html - broken link)

[nymammantx]

perticusrex

I agree somewhat with what you are saying. And I don't think it's a simple cut and dry one answer to stop the violent cycle. There are so many things that play into the reasons behind the crime and thug lifestyle. And there ARE many programs for those in poverty. I don't want to get started on the welfare or freebies or programs offered but a lot of times kids in these poorer communities are offered a lot to keep them out of trouble. I can't afford some of the stuff that these kids get for my kids and I wouldn't qualify for any services because of my income so some middle class kids slip through the cracks and become the new trouble makers. I think again, it boils down to parenting. I grew up in NYC. My neighborhood was not great but my parents took the time to raise me and teach me values and morals. But how do we teach parents to be parents? There is no answer to that question. We can offer classes all we want but it won't matter if someone is poor, middle class or rich... if they don't want to be a better parent, they won't. We can offer training or education to target groups but again, if they don't want to do it, they won't. I would say start prosecuting the parents if their little angels reek havoc on the public but I don't think they would even care. It's a culture problem too. When the culture is inbedded in these people to breed young and not graduate from high school and be thugs because that's all they know, then it will never change. People will only change IF THEY WANT TO. There is no program out there, no quick fix, no reasoning.

If parents decide they don't want their child to be killed by a drive by, then they will get out of the gang life. If parents don't want their child to be taken away by CPS for drug use, then they will stop doing drugs. If parents want their child to grow up and go to college and maybe be the next great president, they will take the time to focus on that and get their child where they need to be.

You can't ever say it won't happen. When I was a teen I strayed from what my parents taught me, I started drinking and doing drugs, and dropped out of school. I became a statistic and got pregnant at 18. The day I found out I was pregnant, I moved away from that neighborhood, stopped drinking and doing drugs and I went back to night school to finish my high school diploma. I got a good job and worked my butt off for my child because I loved him that much. Now, 4 kids later with my hubby, I'm putting myself back through college to get my BA. My mother never finished college so I will be the first girl in my family to have a degree. It can be done if someone puts their child first. Sadly most of the people in this scenario of street crime and drugs don't put their child first. They have kids just to have them and selfishly don't protect that child because their lifestyle is more fun. That will keep the cycle going forever.

[mpd33]

Originally Posted by nymammantx

perticusrex

I agree somewhat with what you are saying. And I don't think it's a simple cut and dry one answer to stop the violent cycle. There are so many things that play into the reasons behind the crime and thug lifestyle. And there ARE many programs for those in poverty. I don't want to get started on the welfare or freebies or programs offered but a lot of times kids in these poorer communities are offered a lot to keep them out of trouble. I can't afford some of the stuff that these kids get for my kids and I wouldn't qualify for any services because of my income so some middle class kids slip through the cracks and become the new trouble makers. I think again, it boils down to parenting. I grew up in NYC. My neighborhood was not great but my parents took the time to raise me and teach me values and morals. But how do we teach parents to be parents? There is no answer to that question. We can offer classes all we want but it won't matter if someone is poor, middle class or rich... if they don't want to be a better parent, they won't. We can offer training or education to target groups but again, if they don't want to do it, they won't. I would say start prosecuting the parents if their little angels reek havoc on the public but I don't think they would even care. It's a culture problem too. When the culture is inbedded in these people to breed young and not graduate from high school and be thugs because that's all they know, then it will never change. People will only change IF THEY WANT TO. There is no program out there, no quick fix, no reasoning.

If parents decide they don't want their child to be killed by a drive by, then they will get out of the gang life. If parents don't want their child to be taken away by CPS for drug use, then they will stop doing drugs. If parents want their child to grow up and go to college and maybe be the next great president, they will take the time to focus on that and get their child where they need to be.

You can't ever say it won't happen. When I was a teen I strayed from what my parents taught me, I started drinking and doing drugs, and dropped out of school. I became a statistic and got pregnant at 18. The day I found out I was pregnant, I moved away from that neighborhood, stopped drinking and doing drugs and I went back to night school to finish my high school diploma. I got a good job and worked my butt off for my child because I loved him that much. Now, 4 kids later with my hubby, I'm putting myself back through college to get my BA. My mother never finished college so I will be the first girl in my family to have a degree. It can be done if someone puts their child first. Sadly most of the people in this scenario of street crime and drugs don't put their child first. They have kids just to have them and selfishly don't protect that child because their lifestyle is more fun. That will keep the cycle going forever.

Can't rep you again yet, but, I applaud you for the decisions you have made and stuck to. Good job

[majormadmax]

Originally Posted by mpd33

Can't rep you again yet, but, I applaud you for the decisions you have made and stuck to. Good job

I rep'd them for both of us!

Cheers! M2

[Newk]

I found one for Houston, but not for San Antonio. Is there a google map or something that maps out crimes that have occurred in our city? You type in a zipcode or address and the pushpins for the different incidents pops up? Here is zip code: 77095 for

example: Houston Crime Maps | ZIP Code | 77095

Great discussion people. I live in an apartment, but garages are available, if nothing is in plain sight is your car still a target? If nothing is in plain sight, will people key it or what have you because they are jealous, or that the car looks nice?