« Comprehensive Plan Process -- This Week | Main | Mach on Gentrification »
Neighborhood Safety Charrette
Today on short notice, I was able to attend the charrette on neighborhood safety held from 11:30 to 1:00 in the afternoon. One question begs to be asked, who can attend such a meeting at such a time? Do you think the City may be scheduling these meetings so that no one of any consequence can attend.
Of course the Ann Marie Reddy's and Ray Watson's among us, government funded non-profit, welfare recipients all, were well represented as their non-jobs allow them such flexibility while still being paid. I was able to attend because I am self employed, and I sacrificed my time (my for profit time) because it was important to me.
I expected to hear the usual rhetoric, but instead I sat at a table with a woman of oriental decent from the Summit and six young African Americans from Mt. Hope. And me. To my surprise everyone agreed that the biggest problem in Mt. Hope was the drug dealing. And that the second biggest problem was the police. Specifically the police's failure to target the bad guys and instead harass people of color because they fit the profile of Mt. Hope drug dealers.
I pointed out that the police are poorly trained and that it doesn't matter whether you are young or old, black or white, the District 8 police do not know how to interact with Mt. Hope residents with respect. To the police, we are all scum because we live in Mt. Hope, a problematic neighborhood.
One young man, Steve, described how he was walking down Camp Street and a cop pulled over on the other side of the street and ordered him to cross the street and put his hands up on the retaining wall and spread his legs. He told him that he fit the profile of a suspect. I believe that my wife, Irene, witnessed this incident last week.
Now, let me tell you, I know every drug dealer in Mt. Hope because I've been fighting this battle for ten years and because I work all day every day in the neighborhood, and I know many people in the neighborhood, and I employ many people from the neighborhood, and I knew with one glance that Steve was not a drug dealer, so why don't the cops, whose job it is to know these things, know the same as I know. Why did they harass Steve: that is a rhetorical question: to create more distrust in the African American community, to perpetrate the belief that the police are stupid, that they racial profile.
I can tell you why, but I already did. And it came up in the charrette: the police are afraid, scared, they'd rather harass innocent African Americans than take on the ones whom they know are bad, and I mean "bad" as in dangerous. Who wants to fuck with dangerous drug dealers who may be packing heat when you can harass some kid and still look like you are doing your job?
A bunch of tough guys, huh.
But we still got drug dealing in Mt. Hope.
The police will not solve this problem for us. In fact, they are part of the problem.
The African American young people at our table this afternoon spoke of being completely disenfranchised -- one spoke of Mt. Hope as the neighborhood that is invisible, that doesn't count, that has been forgotten, and believe me these young adults are the best of the best.
It doesn't matter who you are, young or old, black or white, if you live in Mt. Hope, to the City, to the Police, you are a loser, and you are scum, and you don't count.
I'm often tempted to give up, sell out, move, but my warrior instinct always kicks in at some point, and now, I'm in full warrior mode.
All we need is a group of strong minded, strong willed, courageous, independent thinking individuals to turn this neighborhood around.
It's a shame that a small group of criminals and knee jerk liberals -- did I mention mamby pamby academics (;>) -- hold Mt. Hope hostage, hold it back from being a safe neighborhood free of political corruption, non-profit corruption, and the drug trade this corruption supports.
We can beat it. Listen to me.
John Twomey
Posted at September 25, 2007 11:49 PM