The big issue with Arbery was the nepotism and incompetence of the local prosecutor who was apparently willing to let the whole thing go until cell phone footage came out.
This remains a valid criticism of law enforcement in the south.
If you want to talk about an increase in homicides being bad - be my guest. Because they have gone up and it is bad.
But drop the "crime is up cr@p." Crime, as a category is not up because of how broadly it is currently defined and what it currently encompassess from an arrest and prosecution standpoint. Frankly the DA in question is on to something in that by declining to prosecute certain things, he's shrinking the definition of crime.
well technically as a private company they aren't bound by FOIS . . . the State Senate is however, and I doubt they will disband to keep these record from going public.
Any way you want to slice it, these policies result in 1. more criminals in society and 2. greater incentive for criminals to commit crime. That’s irrefutable.
Only because we keep criminalizing things we shouldn't. Fare dodging only deprives the subway of revenue. It doesn't increase anyone's likelihood of physical harm or even other property crimes. That's why is a misdemeanor - and continuing to prosecute it likely takes up precious resources the DA doesn't have. Ditto shoplifting - yes it impacts business bottomlines, but it doesn't increase the likelihood of any physical harm - and in fact given how cops tend to respond the attempt to arrest generally increases the probability of cops going postal on some kid.
Decriminalize these things, decriminalize marijuana, and close down the War on Drugs (which was never about the drugs) and you are well on the way to social and economic reforms that have way more upside then downside.
Kazakhstan shows a way for people in Hungry and even Russia to start pushing back against their regimes - which has benefit in the US as showing why the right wing embrace of these regimes is so troubling.
And the President of Kazakhstan has ordered his police and military to shoot protestors openly without warning. Seems to me we don't want to just send thoughts and prayers after that, but we don't want to send troops either.
multiple data streams make up "Crime statistics." One is going up, the rest are still going down. That one going up is not enough, statistically, to justify the scary narrative that's being shoved around, and which you seem uncharacteristically willing to accept.
Exactly. And while we should ask questions about the how and why, we should also push back on the narrative that an increase in homicides means we have an increase in crime.
My description was what I encountered between living there 2005 until mid 2016. I don't pretend to speak for others, and there are definitely still parts of the city and metro area that are rough. But like most modern urban locations, DC is a combination of many experiences. Its evolving, as are all cities.
Which means that ones experience prior to mine - or subsequent to mine, won't match mine.
Economics - the Administration also needs to lean harder on the media to reframe its successes. Right now the narrative doesn't favor the things the Administration has actually accomplished. That's got to change ASAP.
Inflation - spot on.
COVID (Tied to Schools) - the Administration has to fight for mandates for vaccinations, and has to fight in the court of public opinion as much as the actual courts. Teacher vaccine and mask mandates are a must, but counting on local school districts to do this is folly, especially in red states. The trade off has to be crystal clear - if you want open schools, then you have to have 100% adult vaccinations of faculty and staff, and full masking. The Administration also needs to up the game on funding air filtration in schools, which few districts can afford to overhaul quickly.
Foreign Affairs - Putin may have bigger problems then invading Ukraine if the protests in Kazakhstan continue and spread. The Administration should make clear its support for those protests, and freeze the funds of any state that intervenes. And play up the old Cold War sentiments against Russia while they do it.
So here again we are seeing the media conflate murder rate increases with "Violent Crime" increases driving a story of fear needing to be ginned up. Other violent crimes - rape, aggravated assault, armed robbery - aren't being discussed. Because they are still trending down.
In our ten years in DC, our house was burgarlized twice. The second time the teenagers who did it were caught a couple of days later. I attended their arraignments at the invitation of the state's attorney. They were all recommended for pre-trial diversion. After moving south our closest brush with crime was being awakened one night by the local cops who wanted to know if we knew the 20 something man passed out in a stolen car in our front drive. We didn't, and car and driver were taken away by said cops. My wife has had a hand full of speeding tickets over the years, and we've had the usual urban smattering of parking tickets.
Like you, I used to walk regularly through parts of DC that were not the white picket fence neighborhood and have regular encounters with the homeless. They were all polite if you treated them like human beings. I've also witnessed two arrests at Walmart for what I presume was shoplifting - both of black women, and both involving a police presence outnumbering the alleged perpetrators 3 or 4 to 1.
Beyond that I read the news across a variety of sources. None of this gives me pause about crime rates going up, and like Oscar - above - I am not convinced that rises in homicides during a pandemic are an indication of anything uniformly nefarious staring up.
Homicides are up. It wouldn’t surprise me that people associate record homicide rates with proliferating crime.
That's exactly Chip's point. One statistic goes up - during a global pandemic when all sorts of things are out of whack - and the story is CRIME IS UP BE SCARED! Never mind all the other crime statistics have trended and are trending down.
SO long as there's a concomitant penalty for police using excessive force I might buy your argument on resisting arrest. Since there usually isn't, no joy. Plus as we've seen over and over of late, even fully compliant arrestees get charged with it under the most minor of circumstances - like asking an officer why you are being arrested.
There are MANY things in our present society and nation that cry out for legislative solutions. And yet legislators seem more interested in posturing then legislating. SO just like a President issuing executive orders because Congress can't be bothered to do its job, the DA is controlling the part of the system he can to achieve a reform end.
We all still had to register with Selective Service when we turned 18. The draft still exists even if we choose not to use it. That needs to change before we even consider raising the voting age again.
Maybe it’s exaggerated? Still as the stories of proliferating crime and dysfunction multiply across the internet I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel a prickle of apprehension.
First, there's always going to be an adjustment period when things change. We still aren't finished adjusting to COVID yet as a society, so there's no reason to think adjustments to changes in policing or prosecution should be a done deal either.
Second, you need to critically examine the present day stories you are hearing. So far, the published crime statistics show that murders are up the last two years, but every other form of crime is continuing its two decade trend downward. IF we aren't seeing that accurately reported in the media we are consuming - and I'll agree that we likely are not - then asking why a way better approach then getting knotted up about how. Afterall, conservatives all over the US have managed to get all sorts of voting and election laws passed on the lies about 2020, so its not like the politicians need truth to actually make significant and deleterious change.
When it comes to things that “truly matter as a society” I imagine the safety and security of family/community and overall quality of life rank pretty high for most people.
The safety and security of families and communities is not really impacted by fare dodgers is it? The subway's bottom line may be, but that's only because we obtusely continue to believe that public transit should be self funded and thus "profitable" instead of a public service that is fully supported by tax revenue and fares (with taxes making up any deficits).
As to things like the trespassing/squatting issue - you will get far more "safety and security" by addressing WHY people are squatting then by simply criminalizing their behavior. And the addressing the underlying causes has the added benefit of converting those squatters into more productive citizens.
On “Abandoned & Malignant Hearts: Life In Prison For Murdering Ahmaud Arbery”
The big issue with Arbery was the nepotism and incompetence of the local prosecutor who was apparently willing to let the whole thing go until cell phone footage came out.
This remains a valid criticism of law enforcement in the south.
On “Manhattan DA Joins The Progressive Side of Law Enforcement Reform”
If you want to talk about an increase in homicides being bad - be my guest. Because they have gone up and it is bad.
But drop the "crime is up cr@p." Crime, as a category is not up because of how broadly it is currently defined and what it currently encompassess from an arrest and prosecution standpoint. Frankly the DA in question is on to something in that by declining to prosecute certain things, he's shrinking the definition of crime.
"
Well that is the thing the DA controls isn't it? The prosecutorial discretion part, now isn't it?
On “Voter Fraud: I Do Not Think That Word Means What You Think It Means”
well technically as a private company they aren't bound by FOIS . . . the State Senate is however, and I doubt they will disband to keep these record from going public.
On “Manhattan DA Joins The Progressive Side of Law Enforcement Reform”
One does so to fan the flames, not deal in reality.
"
Only because we keep criminalizing things we shouldn't. Fare dodging only deprives the subway of revenue. It doesn't increase anyone's likelihood of physical harm or even other property crimes. That's why is a misdemeanor - and continuing to prosecute it likely takes up precious resources the DA doesn't have. Ditto shoplifting - yes it impacts business bottomlines, but it doesn't increase the likelihood of any physical harm - and in fact given how cops tend to respond the attempt to arrest generally increases the probability of cops going postal on some kid.
Decriminalize these things, decriminalize marijuana, and close down the War on Drugs (which was never about the drugs) and you are well on the way to social and economic reforms that have way more upside then downside.
On “What Joe Biden Needs to Avoid in the 2022 Midterms”
Kazakhstan shows a way for people in Hungry and even Russia to start pushing back against their regimes - which has benefit in the US as showing why the right wing embrace of these regimes is so troubling.
And the President of Kazakhstan has ordered his police and military to shoot protestors openly without warning. Seems to me we don't want to just send thoughts and prayers after that, but we don't want to send troops either.
On “Manhattan DA Joins The Progressive Side of Law Enforcement Reform”
multiple data streams make up "Crime statistics." One is going up, the rest are still going down. That one going up is not enough, statistically, to justify the scary narrative that's being shoved around, and which you seem uncharacteristically willing to accept.
"
Exactly. And while we should ask questions about the how and why, we should also push back on the narrative that an increase in homicides means we have an increase in crime.
"
My description was what I encountered between living there 2005 until mid 2016. I don't pretend to speak for others, and there are definitely still parts of the city and metro area that are rough. But like most modern urban locations, DC is a combination of many experiences. Its evolving, as are all cities.
Which means that ones experience prior to mine - or subsequent to mine, won't match mine.
"
In every statistic that is publicly reported the trend has continued except for homicides.
What does it tell you that all the rest of the crime trends are being ignored in the narrative of the rise in crime?
On “What Joe Biden Needs to Avoid in the 2022 Midterms”
Economics - the Administration also needs to lean harder on the media to reframe its successes. Right now the narrative doesn't favor the things the Administration has actually accomplished. That's got to change ASAP.
Inflation - spot on.
COVID (Tied to Schools) - the Administration has to fight for mandates for vaccinations, and has to fight in the court of public opinion as much as the actual courts. Teacher vaccine and mask mandates are a must, but counting on local school districts to do this is folly, especially in red states. The trade off has to be crystal clear - if you want open schools, then you have to have 100% adult vaccinations of faculty and staff, and full masking. The Administration also needs to up the game on funding air filtration in schools, which few districts can afford to overhaul quickly.
Foreign Affairs - Putin may have bigger problems then invading Ukraine if the protests in Kazakhstan continue and spread. The Administration should make clear its support for those protests, and freeze the funds of any state that intervenes. And play up the old Cold War sentiments against Russia while they do it.
On “Manhattan DA Joins The Progressive Side of Law Enforcement Reform”
What does that tell you about the framers of the narratives?
"
So here again we are seeing the media conflate murder rate increases with "Violent Crime" increases driving a story of fear needing to be ginned up. Other violent crimes - rape, aggravated assault, armed robbery - aren't being discussed. Because they are still trending down.
What do you think that conflation tells you?
"
There are parts of the LA metro area where that would be quite normal. Ditto New Orleans . . . .
"
In our ten years in DC, our house was burgarlized twice. The second time the teenagers who did it were caught a couple of days later. I attended their arraignments at the invitation of the state's attorney. They were all recommended for pre-trial diversion. After moving south our closest brush with crime was being awakened one night by the local cops who wanted to know if we knew the 20 something man passed out in a stolen car in our front drive. We didn't, and car and driver were taken away by said cops. My wife has had a hand full of speeding tickets over the years, and we've had the usual urban smattering of parking tickets.
Like you, I used to walk regularly through parts of DC that were not the white picket fence neighborhood and have regular encounters with the homeless. They were all polite if you treated them like human beings. I've also witnessed two arrests at Walmart for what I presume was shoplifting - both of black women, and both involving a police presence outnumbering the alleged perpetrators 3 or 4 to 1.
Beyond that I read the news across a variety of sources. None of this gives me pause about crime rates going up, and like Oscar - above - I am not convinced that rises in homicides during a pandemic are an indication of anything uniformly nefarious staring up.
"
Eviction is a civil proceeding. The NYC DA has zero to do with that.
"
That's exactly Chip's point. One statistic goes up - during a global pandemic when all sorts of things are out of whack - and the story is CRIME IS UP BE SCARED! Never mind all the other crime statistics have trended and are trending down.
"
SO long as there's a concomitant penalty for police using excessive force I might buy your argument on resisting arrest. Since there usually isn't, no joy. Plus as we've seen over and over of late, even fully compliant arrestees get charged with it under the most minor of circumstances - like asking an officer why you are being arrested.
"
There are MANY things in our present society and nation that cry out for legislative solutions. And yet legislators seem more interested in posturing then legislating. SO just like a President issuing executive orders because Congress can't be bothered to do its job, the DA is controlling the part of the system he can to achieve a reform end.
"
We all still had to register with Selective Service when we turned 18. The draft still exists even if we choose not to use it. That needs to change before we even consider raising the voting age again.
"
Reading the memo John linked to I think that's still a chargable offense.
"
First, there's always going to be an adjustment period when things change. We still aren't finished adjusting to COVID yet as a society, so there's no reason to think adjustments to changes in policing or prosecution should be a done deal either.
Second, you need to critically examine the present day stories you are hearing. So far, the published crime statistics show that murders are up the last two years, but every other form of crime is continuing its two decade trend downward. IF we aren't seeing that accurately reported in the media we are consuming - and I'll agree that we likely are not - then asking why a way better approach then getting knotted up about how. Afterall, conservatives all over the US have managed to get all sorts of voting and election laws passed on the lies about 2020, so its not like the politicians need truth to actually make significant and deleterious change.
"
I'll back that when the draft age goes up to 25. Until then, if you are old enough to die for the US, you should be able to vote in the US.
"
The safety and security of families and communities is not really impacted by fare dodgers is it? The subway's bottom line may be, but that's only because we obtusely continue to believe that public transit should be self funded and thus "profitable" instead of a public service that is fully supported by tax revenue and fares (with taxes making up any deficits).
As to things like the trespassing/squatting issue - you will get far more "safety and security" by addressing WHY people are squatting then by simply criminalizing their behavior. And the addressing the underlying causes has the added benefit of converting those squatters into more productive citizens.