There was another shooting SoLo yesterday. This one was a few blocks west of us. The shooting before this one was a few blocks east of us. If this insanity gets much closer it’ll be in our alley.
The news from Chicago doesn’t look good either. Seems like over the weekend 36 shootings resulting in nine deaths. Students are staying out of school in alarming numbers. In one of the drive-by shootings an AK-47 was used!
Police blame the upswing in violence on the warmer weather and the arrest of several gang leaders. At the Cabrini-Green housing projects alone sixteen members of the Gangster Disciples were arrested, including their leader. Police are escorting kids to school from the area because of mass truancy due to the shootings.
We wish someone could get a handle on this. Instead of dreaming up ways to raise our taxes, laws should be passed to make it tougher on these groups. Back in the day gangs had rules and you hardly ever heard of this kind of behavior.
So people live in fear, kids are missing school, the police are overwhelmed, and youngsters are getting killed. Where’s the outrage? Where’s the public outcry for justice? This is trend we don’t want to see.
Sad to say, we think it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Comments on just about about anything are welcome.
April 23, 2008 at 10:31 am
that’s the problem with fighting crime. sometimes when you think you are doing good you are actually creating a power vacuum that makes things worse than they were.
if i recall something about that ms-13 gang, its that they are overly violent in an effort to gain respect. so they often will commit crimes against innocent folks just to send a message that they are in charge.
scary world out there eh?
April 23, 2008 at 12:40 pm
legalize marijuna. Take a way a large part of the gang’s money (read: power).
work on actual rehabilitation programs instead of throwing them to the dogs in prison.
teach parenting
engage youth in positive ventures before they become criminals
We will probably have an increase in crimes with our economy in the toilet. People react in crazy ways when they feel desperate.
April 23, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I said it on my blog, I’ll say it here—-where is the political leadership?
These problems are being framed in a Wild West kind of way—lawmen (and women!) vs. the lawless.
Why do we elect local officials? To deal with local problems—but no, at least in the ILQCs, being elected means you can reward your family, friends and donors with taxpayer financed goodies.
People on both sides of the river need to hold their elected officials accountable—-this is THEIR problem and they need to get out front of the problem and LEAD!
Blaming Bush ™ won’t get ‘er done.
April 23, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Robbie,
They think they’re getting respect, but we believe other people don’t respect tham, they fear them. When the groups have a leader present, members don’t kill innocent people. They only kill who the leader tells them to. The problems arise when the leaders get arrested and sent to prison.
Snarky Chick,
Good to hear from you again. I agree with what you say, but don’t think it could ever be implemented. We’ve got no problem with legalizing pot, but how does one teach a kid who kills other kids with no remorse? We think in order for that to work education and some sort of lockdown would have to be introduced at the same time.
qcexaminer,
We also agree with your comments. Judges are also elected here so we add them to the mix. We used to get mad that people re-elect these idiots, now we’re just amused.
April 23, 2008 at 5:01 pm
It’s now out that a 34 year old parolee has been arrested in the stabbing death of the 25 year old woman from accross the river. He’s also charged with starting the fire. This is exactly the outcome that keeps some of us to renounce early release.
April 23, 2008 at 6:04 pm
The AK-47 thing worries me. I was never a fan of the assault weapons ban, because it banned based essentially on the appearance of the weapon, and generally few were used in crimes.
Unfortunately since its expiration, companies are now importing AK-47 clones like crazy, so you can frequently see them advertised in the Dunham’s ad for $250. At some point they may become cheap and accessible enough that their availability would become a problem.
April 24, 2008 at 1:01 pm
The bigger this area gets the larger the crime problem will get. It is not just the laws either. The problem is also our prison systems are not much more than higher learning centers for improving criminal behavior. We are way too easy on them. It is time to start thinking about more restrictive confinements such as solitary confinement for any crime committed that includes violent behavior.
April 24, 2008 at 1:41 pm
QCI,
We doubt these people got the guns legally in the first place. As for cheap and accessible, how does that apply when they steal the guns? On the other side of the coin, semi-automatics can be converted to full auto. We have to admit that we don’t know how to stop the problem.
scoundrel,
We agree. The current system hasn’t worked for years. Getting rid of the death penalty didn’t, so maybe they should convert these country clubs back into prisons.