A Nuisance

Another article appeared in the paper today about the ACLU's lawsuit against Norristown that challenges the constitutionality of ordinances such as the one called the "three strikes rule".  This ordinance was put into place with the intention of protecting the peace and order of the neighborhood by forcing landlords to lose their license if there are multiple calls to the police for that property.  Unfortunately, in the case of Lakisha Briggs, she was evicted because the domestic violence relationship she was in caused her to call over and over again despite the restraining order against her abuser.

There are many things at work in this case.  First and foremost, domestic situations are very tricky things to deal with.  For a short time, I did work with a domestic violence support center doing hotline crisis calls. During the training, as well as my personal experiences, it was stated that domestic violence relationships go in cycles.  After the crisis is over the victim takes back the abuser because the abuser makes promises that it will never happen again.  The couple enters a "honeymoon phase" and things are great until the next time. It was therefore during my time on council before that I argued the ordinance should be exempt for cases of domestic violence.

In every situation there are two sides to every story.  I do not know the amount of times the police were called to that property so I cannot say whether I side with Ms. Briggs or the municipality.  I can say that the municipality's intention was to give some quality of life to neighborhoods by helping alleviate as many nuisance properties as possible. In cases of domestic violence, one simply cannot predict what will happen and to legislate an ordinance such as this one without taking that into consideration can only bring difficulty. I only hope that during the time when the municipality is not enforced the ordinance due to the lawsuit Council does the right thing and re-address the law.

Unanswered Questions

Another shooting happened in Norristown.  This time a 16 year old was shot in broad daylight and the shooter was reportedly riding a bicycle.  The crime happened a short distance from my house, although I was not home at the time.

This leaves me with a sense of anger and frustration.  I have a series of questions going around in my head which will probably never get answered:

1. What is wrong with people who do this?
2. Do they know it is wrong?
3. Do they think there are no consequences to their actions?
4. Is there a different code of morality in their minds?
5. Are they conscious of what it means to potentially take another life?
6. Do they lack the feeling of power and have to do this to gain power?
7. Is it anger, frustration, or simply desperation that drives them to commit these actions?
8. What message are they sending with their actions, and are they even aware that they are sending a message?
9. What drives them to do the act in the first place?
10. Are there warning signs that someone could have observed to prevent this from happening?

I would really love to find out the answer to some of these questions, especially the last, because it might just help resolve the situation of crime in our town.  The victim is reported to be in stable condition.  Nevertheless the town is grieving because there is yet another nail in our coffin toward the ultimate end of humanity caused by the repeated acts of people who commit these crimes.

Dirt

Driving in to work this morning, I noticed a lot of litter on one of the streets near my home.  This is not really a strange situation as this street habitually has litter on it.  In fact, it is one of the streets in this rag tag town I live in that looks the worst 8 out of 7 days of the week.  I also know that litter is not a major issue to most people.  But then again, I am not most people and it bothers the heck out of me.

I continue to try to come to terms about how people can live in unkempt conditions.  I get really upset when I come home and have to police the area in front of my house and pick up soda bottles, discarded napkins, French fry boxes, and the like.  Why don't others do the same?  It boggles the mind. 

Litter is just another broken window which is part of a theory about crime in urban environments. 

The theory states that maintaining and monitoring urban environments in a well-ordered condition may stop further vandalism and escalation into more serious crime.

Many have subscribed to this theory (which you can read about here) including me, and the upshot of it is that one way to control crime is to pick up the litter as well as maintain an orderly environment. I also understand that generally people think I am nuts to be so obsessed with getting the litter off the streets, and fortunately I am not the only one on my block who cares this much.  Regardless, considering that in my little block things rarely happen, I think picking up the litter on a daily basis supports the broken window theory and until otherwise I am a staunch believer. 

Why?

A friend of mine and I were having a discussion about why there are so many young people involved in crimes – like murder.  We had each gotten text messages about two arrests in Norristown of two kids who were arrested for murder.  One was a murder by an 18 year old and the other was a murder and arson by a 20 year old. We each had different opinions on what is happening.  I hope there are people out there looking into this to find out why these things are happening.

It seems like violence, gun violence in particular is epidemic and the perpetrators of these crimes are young men, younger than 21.  Not all of them are mentally unstable as in the case of Adam Lanza who killed all those children at Sandy Hook School, or at least that part hasn’t come out.  I am not under the theory that violent games cause this type of behavior.  I know plenty of people I work with who play those games are not prone to violent actions.  My friend subscribes to the theory that modern technology causes it and I am under the theory that the American diet is the culprit.  All that sugar and high fructose corn syrup makes us crazy. 

Whatever the issue is, I hope that someone gets a handle on this.  This killing spree that these young men are on is jut not right.  Not only do I feel bad for society in general, but I feel so bad for their families who will never see their sons again or will have to visit them in prison for the rest of their lives. 

Victim

I am a victim of another crime.  A few weeks before a local jewelry store was robbed in my area, I took a bracelet to be fixed. The clasp had come apart and the  bracelet had fallen off several times, so I finally took it to the store to get a new clasp and at the same time had a small puffed heart charm soldered on to it.  This bracelet, while not expensive was very valuable to me because my son had brought it back from Mexico when he was there in the fifth grade.  I had been wearing it ever since.  I had not heard back from the store and I feared the worst after hearing the news of the robbery. Sure enough my bracelet was one of the items taken. I was heartbroken when I heard the news.

I hate, hate, hate criminals.  Not only was the crime a horrible experience for the jewelry store owner, but now the owner has chosen to close the business.  When I spoke to him, he told me that they have had three robberies and it is just too much.  They have been in the Norristown area for many, many years and now they are leaving.  They are the only jewelry store in the town and because of some stupid criminal they are shutting their doors forever.

Sure they are replacing the bracelet, but it is not the same. And, yes, I know it's just a material item but it is an emotional thing for me because it has high sentimental value.  I am sure I am going to get over it but for now I am thinking about it over and over again.

Another One Hits the Deck

Every day you turn around and there is another shooting, another home invasion, another angry person.  What is it with people these days?  Why do people resort to violence as the way to solve problems?  It saddens me that violence is often the direction people go. 

In my humble opinion the biggest reason that violence is used is due to ignorance.  But, I have heard many reasons such as poverty, high school drop outs, and drugs as a reason for violence, and I am sure many of them are good reasons.  When one is ill-educated, they can’t really think of any other way than to react; they have no experience learned or otherwise in not using violence.  That seems to tie in with the low economic status as well, but many people who are highly educated have been involved in physical altercations, so it is not clearly a one to one relationship.  Drugs certainly have a factor, especially alcohol.  We have all heard of “beer muscles” being a reason for many scuffles that come along. I am sure there are many studies out there on why people use their fists rather than their words to fix problems.

But the biggest disappointment is when they bring a gun into the equation.  Moreover, I think that in some cultures it is more accepted to swing fists or shot first and ask questions later.  At the risk of sounding sexist, violence is much more prevalent in the male species probably due to hormones and the expectation that a guy is going to stick up for themselves or be labeled a “sissy”.  It continues to be my biggest wish that people will use other methods to decide life’s problems in the future.  It is a big wish.

Officer Down

As many of you may know, Officer Brad Fox, a Plymouth officer, was shot and killed last night while investigating a traffic accident.  The article this morning talked about the incident and his family mentioning his young, pregnant wife, the fact that he did two tours in Iraq, and a little information about his K-9 partner.  Today is a very sad day for most area police departments and anyone who knows and respects officers of the law.  It was a senseless act of violence.

I was on my way home from an event in Conshohocken last night around the time the officer was shot.  I came to the intersection of Colwyn Rd and Conshohocken Road and it was blocked off.  I went down Colwyn Rd and around until I came back out on Ridge St, which eventually continues on Main St.  Conshohocken Rd was closed at that intersection as well by a police cruiser.  When I got home around 8ish, we started hearing helicopters and did so most of the night until I went to sleep.  I wasn’t sure why until this morning when I found that they had taken the officer to Montgomery Hospital which is not far from my home.

The news hit law enforcement members across the country on a memorial site for fallen officers, thanks to the digital media everyone operates on, and many from across the country have added support. A Facebook memorial page has been set up and no doubt support on both pages will grow as more stories of Officer Fox come to light, along with details about what happened. Since this is the first officer for Plymouth’s force, they are hit especially hard coming to terms with this horrible event. It is still amazing to me that within minutes of the incident, I had received a text message about the incident and when I signed onto my Facebook page later that evening, there were many, many postings about what had happened. News travels lightening fast these days and I am continually amazed at its speed.  No doubt in a very short time we will know everything, and more, about the fallen officer and the suspect.  Many will get closure with all this information, but nothing will ever replace the man who will be missed by his police family, his wife, daughter, and unborn child.  His children will never know their father thanks to a horrible, horrible man who pulled the trigger.

Priorities

There was an article in the paper recently about a protest going on outside of the Graterford Prison near Schwenksville.  They protestors are opposed to the $400 million proposal to replace the current prison with two new facilities and 800 new beds.  I am not sure if that is 800 in each or a total of 800.

The current facility has 3121 beds and was built in 1929, so the reduction is pretty dramatic and doesn’t make sense to me.  It is the currently listed as the largest maximum security prison. In 1989, they did a construction project to the tune of an $80 million that added a new administration building, a 28-bed infirmary and 372 additional cells.  According to Wikipedia, “SCI-Graterford Industries provides work and economic activity within the prison, including a garment factory, undergarment factory, shoe factory, weave plant, hosiery factory, carton factory, and a mail distribution center. Prison factories and industries employ 21 civilian staff, 315 inmate staff, and in 2003-2004 generated revenues of $4,450,940.01. The prison also conducts farming operations and educational programs.” I don’t know if those programs are still going on.

 In the budget Governor Corbet signed into law, he cut basic education funding $900 million across the state.  Part of these cuts included grants that were put in place for full day kindergarten.  In addition his $27.1 billion plan he cut state universities another 20 percent to 30 percent (on top of last year’s 20 percent cuts).  These cuts also trimmed human services — programs that serve children, homeless and the mentally disabled — by 20 percent.  Since we are grasping at funding for all manner of things, is this investment in incarceration a wise one?  What would happen if he took that $400 million and invested it in education?  Is it extremely possible that we could keep people out of jail.  Or are the revenues from the prisons and the fact that “that element” are locked away the point of prisons in the first place?  Seems like the priorities of our governor of out of wack.

Bad Neighbors

I live in a town that has a lot of crime.  Last week there was a shooting on my block that was associated with a long string of domestic violence in a home.  The house is at the far end of the block so my husband and I didn’t even know what happened since the incident took place very early in the morning until the person who lives next door told us about it.  He stopped at my house to discuss what we could do about getting rid of the tenants who live there.

I did some research and looked up neighbor disputes on the web and found a very interesting program in California called Safe Streets Now.  It relies on having the project listed as a nuisance property and empowers citizens to take action though civil action using small claims court as a way to rid the neighborhood of issues.  There is a process, but it is a very user friendly process and can yield some pretty dramatic results.  I am not sure that Pennsylvania has a basis for this law, but am working to find out.

When I was on council I implemented a way to list a property as a nuisance which allows the municipality and county to take action.  By adding the Safe Streets Now pieces to that existing ordinance, providing our state has provisions in it to do so, residents in the municipality can put things in place in a manner that can help clean up the town.  I hope that Council will take action to do just that.

Jail

For the life of me I will never understand why people commit crimes. These days if you do something wrong they will catch you and put you away. Our state is pretty tough on some crimes, especially crimes that involve guns. There are mandatory sentences that will put you away for at least 5-10 years depending on the crime if you use a gun – even a fake one. Going to jail for doing a stupid thing that you may have done in a fit of desperation when you felt you had no option puts your life on hold and sometimes permanently.

If you do a more serious crime, like shoot someone, obviously 5 years doesn’t enter into the picture. It’s a lot more. Why would anyone risk doing it? Do people actually want go to jail? I shake my head whenever I read the news and see young men committing crimes like shooting someone because they want the other person’s iPod, or killing their best friend because they had a beef with them. Is it really worth throwing away your life? Yet the prospect of going to jail doesn’t seem to stop some people from doing the deed. I guess they don’t believe they will get caught.

Jail doesn’t really do anything to teach a person. It just warehouses people until their sentence is over. It is especially true now with our current governor who cut education in jails as well as schools.  No, jail simply allows people to spend all their time networking and learning about what others have done. All it does is make an offender, especially a young impressionable man who made a stupid mistake, more of a criminal when they get out. Then when they get out they have a record and are scarred for the rest of their lives. They have a really hard time getting a decent job, they may not be able to get school loans to improve their education, and they may not be able to have resources available to them that others have. One stupid mistake and you are messed up for life.

I am not saying that we shouldn’t put people away, and there is something to be said for being hard on crime, but there has to be more available for the person after they get out so they can put that kind of life aside and start over again. Resources should be easy to find after you have paid your debt to society and people have to have a chance to build trust in others. Above all, there has to be something else that really deters crime. My jury is still out as to whether jail is it.

Bad Landlord

An article appeared in the Philadelphia inquirer recently about their persistent landlord problem.  Similar to Philadelphia, Norristown has issues with rental properties that are fairly long standing.  Like Philadelphia, the administration has been lax in doing enough about enforcement of property management codes either because of money, manpower, or political will.

The whole property management issue is a slippery slope.  When I was a council person, one particular constituent was a landlord with a few properties.  He often questioned me as to why homeowners didn’t fall under the same regulations as landlords.  He was specifically referring to the heater inspection process, but in general he felt the process should be the same for homeowners as it is for landlords.  My response to him over and over was that landlords are operating a business and the municipality is giving them a license to do that business.  Ultimately the municipality is liable if anything should happen to the people in that property.  It’s a simple concept really.  Yes, insurance will cover part of it, but operating a business means that you have a whole other set of responsibilities. 

Broken down properties with falling shutters, trash strewn front lawns, and peeling paint are not the renter’s responsibility.  They are the landlord's and the landlord should be made accountable for them.  If there are a majority of properties in a block that look unkempt, the block will be easy pickings for criminal activity because the criminals know that will be looking for them.  That reason alone should be rationale enough why something must be done about those kinds of properties.  Block upon block of these types of properties creates a cancer of sorts for the town and it should be dealt with soon before it spreads.  A law such as what Philadelphia is trying to accomplish should be implemented in any town that has a predisposition to property owners who don’t care.  Those owners should be made accountable and held responsible to making the changes needed.  Without such attention before you know it the town is degraded, undervalued, and a place where no one wants to live. 

Crime of Youth

It is heartbreaking to hear about young children committing a crime where they don’t even know the reason why.  One of the perpetrators, when asked why he beat up an old man, answered “because”.  Because why?  Because you are tougher than that old man and can do it?  Because you think it’s a lark to have power over another human being?  Because you have been desensitized to violence because you have grown up in a violence torn home?  Why knows why this 15 year old answered that way.  Answered as if he doesn’t care a whit about what he did and now feels like a BMOC because he is committed of a crime and sentenced to 4 years in a juvenile facility and when he gets out he is going to do something else again and go to “big boy’s jail”.  This is his rite of passage.

It breaks my heart that many kids are growing up with role models who are thugs on the streets rather than folk who value life and can teach good life lessons.  It breaks my heart that the community does not fight for these kids and cuts the education funding so the schools they go to are unimaginative, uninteresting places.  It breaks my heart that government is putting more money into prisons rather than putting that money in programs that will prevent people from going to those prisons. 

We really have ourselves to blame.  We turn our backs on the people who really need help.  We close our doors to the outside and concern ourselves with only those who are in our homes and not fight the good fight for the things that matter and for the things that can prevent more of the same.  I guess it’s too much work.  I guess it takes too much time.  Well I guess there will be more of youth committing these kinds of crimes.

Capital Punishment

 “Capital punishment is the most premeditated of murders.” ~ Albert Camus.  There has been a lot of talk in the news recently about the pending execution of Troy Davis, the man convicted of killing a police officer in the state of Georgia.  Since his arrest, there has been mounting evidence that places reasonable doubt on the fact that he in fact committed the crime for which he has been on death row for.  However, and some say it’s because of this race, the powers that be are maintaining his guilt and pushing forward to today at 7pm, when he is scheduled to die.

I have never been a proponent of capital punishment.  But then again, I have never had a person close to me murdered, which could possibly change my view.  I think everyone changes their views depending on their personal experiences and it seems that we humans have a strong sense of justice in their hearts.  Whether it’s a natural part of us, or whether it is placed there by society and upbringing, we somehow feel that a life for a life is the right thing to do.  I just can’t get behind killing anyone even if they have supposedly murdered someone especially if there is any possible reason the person found guilty didn’t do the crime.

There are many organizations that talk about the death penalty and its pros and cons.  One such site, has some rather in depth discussions that seem to be fairly unbiased.  It presents rather in depth discussions and is primarily designed to bring facts to the table rather than emotions, which I think color the discussion somewhat unfairly based on the person’s personal experience dealing with crime.  I invite you to take a read while we hold our collective breaths to hear about Troy Davis’ fate.

Horror

A friend of mine recently came home to find that his house had been broken into and everything of value stolen.  He and his wife were very frightened by the event and felt debased.  The police did come to the house and took fingerprints but didn’t find anything conclusive.  He told me that they then found that another house in the development had also been hit.  So the fear has permeated his area.

I remember when I was young, my family and I came back from a vacation – I think to the shore.  We were gone a week and when we came back I remember that the back door was open.  I accused my mother of leaving the door unlocked but as she went up to her bedroom, she saw that the drawers in her bureau were taken out and overturned.  I can’t remember if much was stolen.  My brother’s room was a mess anyway so there was no way to tell, and my room didn’t appear to be touched.  I don’t think the enormity of the situation affected me then, but I do remember feeling somewhat violated that someone who I did not invite was in my house looking through our personal things.

When a crime like that happens it is very upsetting.  In cases like robbery, it is fortunate he and his family were not physically harmed but emotionally they are injured.  In other situations, like home invasions, many people suffer cuts and bruises to their bodies and while they will heal, the injury to the mind takes far longer.  My friend says they feel unsafe in their home now. 

I am angry for him and angry at the perpetrator who had to gall to do such a thing.  That person may or may not be caught and the valuables that my friend lost may or may not be replaced – some are irreplaceable to begin with.  But I can’t imagine having my sanctuary violated so that one would feel uncomfortable to be there any longer.   I can only hope he and his family’s scars heal fast and that even if they don’t recover much that he will feel secure once again. 

Placing Blame

I was distressed to hear about the poor girl who was shot and killed on Green and Basin the other night and have been following the several articles in the news as the investigation continues.  I was reading through the comments from one of the articles on the Times Herald website for that article, and was a  little taken back by one of comments which refered that Council was not doing their job because of the recent spate of crime going on in the municipality. 

My question to that sentiment is how and what can be done by Council to thwart crime?  Council makes the laws in the town and there are fairly stringent laws already on the books about crime both on the local level and the federal level.  No matter how many laws are created, there is frankly nothing that can be done if the law cannot be enforced.  Council can’t find the perpetrator of the crime against Dominique Devlin or anyone else for that matter.  That’s the police job, and they are doing the best they can.  The same people who are arguing about Council not doing their job are probably not talking about the crime if they know anything to help the police find the shooter.  What are new laws going to do? What do these people expect Council to do?

I am sure that there is extreme frustration out there because of the crime and people are frightened.  But more laws on the books are not going to fix the problem.  Council has the power to create the laws, but they don’t have the power to stop those who are breaking the laws.  They have the power to request the police to enforce the laws, but the police can’t enforce them if they can’t find the person or persons who commit the crimes.  Let’s blame the crime on the people who are responsible for the crime, not the governmental body who write the laws.

Getting Away with Murder

I have to admit that I have not been following the Casey Anthony story except for what I get tweets about.  This morning I see that a woman who looks like her was attacked and the other day I saw that a man who had the same name has been getting death threats.  After looking into a little further into the case I understand why.  How can a person, especially a mother, not report her child missing for a month and not have killed her.  Yes, the evidence was sketchy and yes it created doubt in the jury’s mind, but come on.  If I ever get in trouble, I want that lawyer.

When my son was little I was constantly looking out for him.  I remember one time we went to the mall and he disappeared into a rack of clothes.  The fear that went through me was indescribable.  I know most parents have gone through that.  Fortunately I found him quickly, but from then on, I had him on a leash.  Literally.  I got one of those harness things and whenever we went out in public he was on it and I had a firm grasp of the other end.  People would look at me strangely, but my son was the type to run off suddenly and he was very quick and with God knows who out there he could have been snatched up in a flash.  If anyone said anything to me I just said that I loved my son and wanted to keep him safe.  I would have reported him missing if he had been gone an hour – get that Amber Alert going!

So how in anyone’s right mind can anyone think that this woman was not at fault when her child, especially a child as adorable as her little girl, go missing and she doesn’t do anything to find her?  I think that woman is sick in the head and needs treatment.  So now she is going scott-free and will probably have another child and I shudder to think about that child’s safety.  

Overcrowding

I read an article about a bill that Senator Greenleaf (R-Montgomery) is proposing. The bill had been crafted back in June of 2010 but was brought up by State Auditor Jack Wagner recently because of the budget concerns. On PA2010.com, it states “According to a summary in the proposed budget, Pennsylvania pays $30,248 per year to lock up an inmate. Health care costs account for $4,505 per inmate per year. In contrast, Pennsylvania spends $13,343 per child in school ($4,952 of that in state funds, the rest from federal sources and local property tax revenue).”

Pennsylvania had the fastest-growing prison population in the nation in 2009, and this is not necessarily because more crime is happening here. It is due to certain mandatory sentencing guidelines that are set by each state that prevents a judge from lawfully sentencing anything below the minimum. That means that more people doing crime are sentenced to prison when the crime may not call for it. That means our prison population grows, the supposed need for more prisons grows, and the amount of our tax dollars being spent to house those criminals grows.

Many of these sentences are for non-violent drug related offenses which can be handled other ways. Auditor General Jack Wagner offered a list of recommendations to reduce the prison population recommending reforms such as expanding alternative punishment programs for non-violent offenders half-way houses, home-based electronic monitoring, motivational boot camp as well as expanding the types of crimes that qualify for those programs. Many of these things would also help the rate of recidivism as well. Let’s face it, prison simply warehouses people and allows them to network with other, possibly harder, criminals. A person going in for a small possession charge may come out with the knowledge to do a more serious crime as well as tips to prevent getting caught.

When running, many politicians vow to be “tough on crime” but there has to be sensibility to that promise. Putting people in jail as a way to combat crime is one sided and narrow thinking. In the long run it means a higher percentage of dollars spent on prisons which translates into less dollars spent elsewhere. The better question to ask them is how. Simply putting away people who commit crime does not help reduce crime, putting programs in place to prevent crime in the first place is a far more prudent way to spend tax dollars, and in my opinion works to reduce crime overall.

Please call your senator and ask them to support SB100. Currently it is in committee and it needs to get on the floor, out to a vote and then to the House for support. The sooner we get a more sensible way to deal with crime, the faster our society can deal with the underlying reasons for crime.

Graffiti

Saturday morning was beautiful. It had no humidity, a slight breeze and a beautiful blue sky. It would have been a perfect day to ride my bike for a long trip of about 30 miles. Instead my husband and I were helping an elderly neighbor who had spray paint all over her garage.


It happened Thursday night, or perhaps early Friday morning. Someone decided that they would spray paint their tag over six properties in the rear of our property. Fortunately, they did not get our wooden fence, but they got the stone walls of two separate garages, a vinyl fence, the vinyl siding of a garage, the side of a small camper, and the aluminum door of a garage. There were two designs on these properties and they have been seen elsewhere in the municipality.

The police are working on it, but I doubt they are going to identify who it is. Graffiti “artists” are very difficult to track down. Unless the police knows the tag and can identify it with someone, they cannot make an arrest. So we are left with the possibility of this person, or persons, doing it again.

My husband and I found a product online called Mostenbocker Lift Off #4. The company makes several types of removers and this chemical is for spray paint. A twenty-two ounce spray bottle is around $8 at Home Depot. We bought three bottles. We also borrowed a pressure washer from a friend and tried several things as well as the Lift Off. The product did fairly well on the smooth vinyl fence, but on the vinyl siding of the garage, which is textured to look like wood, no so much. The paint was caught in the ridges that resemble wood grain and even with repeated scrubbing with a steel wool pad, did not come off easily. We tried other things too; gasoline, brake cleaner, and of course straight water from the pressure washer. We did get about 80% off, but it does not look like it did originally.

The municipality has a somewhat unusual policy which is to fine the property owner if they do not remove the graffiti in a timely manner. There are other cities, like San Diego, who have a program to help eradiate graffiti. “The City of San Diego spends more than $1 million each year on graffiti abatement education and enforcement. This amount does not include the millions more spent by other public agencies, utility companies, and private property owners to remove graffiti from their properties. Nationwide, the American public spends nearly $12 billion each year to fight graffiti.” They have a program called the Paint and Materials Exchange program. “The City of San Diego operates a Paint and Materials Exchange Bank in the Chollas View area where citizens can obtain free recycled paint in limited colors for graffiti removal..”
It is my intention to start a similar program in my municipality to help combat the problem. I don’t like the fact that we, the property owner, who is the victim of vandalism, would have to be fined with a citation for not removing the graffiti. I know that when the vandal is caught they have to pay restitution, but the chances of the police identifying the person and making the arrest is remote, and if that does indeed happen, it could take years and by that time, the property owner may have moved away. The way to stop the graffiti is to cover it over as soon as it happens so that the tag does not get noticed. The objective of tagging is peer recognition: the tagger gains more notoriety the longer the tag is "up."

By doing this I hope that we will lessen the problem and improve the quality of life in our town.

Angry Again

A coworker just came back from a week of working with an organization called Work Camp which sends high school kids out into the community to help people fix up their homes who don’t have the money to help themselves. The organization arranges for schools and churches in the neighborhoods to house the kids and their supervisors while they are there for a week. It’s a very worthwhile program. He came back with horror stories of death threats from roving gangs, stolen property of the kids who came to help, police coming to the door of the house he was working in to arrest the son of the owner, details of constant police sirens, and tales of the horrible living conditions in which some people live.

Yesterday, my husband and I were coming back from our daily ride on the trail. As we neared the area where we cut off the trail to get to our home, we saw four to five police cruisers on the trail with several youth standing around. Apparently a woman was surrounded by some juveniles and forced off her bike. We spoke to the man who came by shortly after the event and called the police for the woman, standing by to guard her bike as she spoke to the police. This is another in a series of incidents which have happened in the same area since the cycling season started. The report was not in the paper today, but I am sure it will be blasted across the front page tomorrow.

I cannot begin to express my anger of these two situations. Although this is certainly nothing new, I have reached my boiling point. As I expressed in an earlier entry, I am to the point that I feel ready to lash out if someone approaches me with intent to harm. I know I cannot fathom someone else’s life who has felt the sting of discrimination and the anger of dealing in an unfair world, but I also see the results of their actions on the outside world and the sense of fear for the people I know and care about. It is abhorrent to me that such crime goes on. Why in God’s name would someone attack an innocent group if kids who are there only to help a poor woman who can’t fix her home, or harass a blameless woman who is simply out trying to get some exercise? What is there to gain by such action? Is that the kind of world some people want to live in; where people live like animals and the toughest survive? I just don’t see it. Even if it is a question of power, the end result of possibly getting caught and arrested with the life-changing consequences that results is more trouble than it’s worth, IMHO. I’d really like to know what goes through their heads.