Since it seems Davenport is the armpit of Iowa when it comes to crime; how do we fix the problem? It's time to grab the bull by the tail and face the situation. It stinks,it's not pretty, and there are a lot easier jobs, but it has to be done. Since a lot of elected officials have been in office for years, and the problems persists, I believe they are part of the problem. Police are often named as one of the problems, but I think this is wrong. If Davenport only has 7 squad cars on the street at night they can't be expected to cover everything that goes on. The police chief? While not a favorite of mine I don't think he could fund more police out of his own pocket. Judges get some of the blame with the slap on the wrist attitude some of them seem to have. Shortage of prison space? Laws that give the criminals too many outs? Let's fix these problems.
Single parent and welfare families took a hit, but that just goes back to excuses; "My dad beat me when I was younger", or "my mother drank heavy", shouldn't be a get out of jail free card. Boot camps aren't working either. With the small percentage of offenders who see the light and staighten up I don't feel it's worth the expense.
Then we get down to jails and prisons themselves. Let's bring back chain gangs, and while we're at it, let's put ALL prisoners in pink jumpsuits so we know what they are, and more importantly, so do they. I also think when a sentence is imposed, that's how long they should do. How many of these jerks got time off for "good" behavior, or being a "model" prisoner, only to go out and re-offend within days of release? Prisons should be somewhere that criminals don't want to go. They shouldn't be a vacation spot to get three squares a day and be kept out of the cold weather.
And if juveniles know they'll be doing hard time with the big boys for serious crimes it might slow them down, or at least give law abiding citizens a break.
If these guys know they will be prosecuted, know they will go to prison, and know it won't be easy while there, maybe that would be a deterent to crime.
And lastly, we as citizens have to let lawmakers know we aren't happy campers. We can do this at the polls, public meetings, and all the media outlets we have available. If we let lawmakers know that prison should be more like boot camp and less like club med they will listen.
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4 comments:
Chain gangs are an excellent idea, but remember that all of our municipal employees are unionized. They will not tolerate their work being yanked out of their hands without a fight.
Another thing that needs to be done is EVERYONE needs to vote NO on all judges every voting cycle to keep fresh jurists in the courthouse. I beleive that judges tend to get too apathetic after time and forget why they are there.
I still think there's room for chain gangs, or work details. They can go out and pick up trash and litter, paint over graffiti, or whatever. And the judges should go that let these jerks walk also.
How about torture! It's legal now, right?
Another good point nitrous55. This mobile unit should be kept going 24/7 all year. If the thugs don't know it will be week to week it might slow them down. And we need citizens to get involved more, even if it's just saying a few words to their aldermen, or at council meetings. Neighborhood watch used to be a big part of our city but it seems like when things start improving, fewer people stay involved because they see they problem as fixed. It's never fixed, and as soon as the criminal element realize the neighborhood is lax they come back in droves.
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