Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Sometimes they are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. But my question would be; why? Shouldn't we as citizens be able to go where we want, when we want, without stupid hassles. Sometimes the problems are minor, sometimes scary, and sometimes they're deadly. Thankfully nobody was hurt in this one. But who gives punks the right to ruin our day. I don't think we want violence in our daily routine. I don't believe the Police or City Council do either. So why does it keep happening?
I'll print a letter that I edited slightly to protect the lady involved. I don't want her to have to worry about retribution after what's she's been through. So here's her letter-
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People of Davenport,
With the advent of warm weather, I have already encountered a problem in my
n'hood, near the frequently problematic intersection of 14th and Gaines. At
3 PM today, Tues., I was heading to Central to pick up my daughter. Just
east of Gaines on W. 14th, I encountered a large grp. [maybe 20?] of young
adult black males. There was no cross street for me to turn, so I had to
proceed. There were 2 cars ahead of me.
Several of the men jumped, yelling, on top of the first car's hood and roof.
They pounded HARD on that car, and on the 2nd car and mine as well. I was
frankly terrified that they would break in the windows. They were loud,
boisterous and acting like they were angry and looking for trouble.
I am dismayed to once again be unable [from a safety standpoint] to drive my
preferred route. During warm weather for several years, I have had to
choose a different way across that part of town. I have instructed my son
to do that as well. It makes me angry to be basically chased out of my own
n'hood by thugs. I hope there will be extra patrols in that area. I hope,
too, that police on that beat will sometimes be on foot, getting to know the
people in that area, heading off trouble. It is not fair that we citizens
are captives due to this foolish and dangerous behavior.
Thank you for your attention to this. Please let me know what the plans are
to address potential trouble in this area.
a concerned citizen
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This is from someone's wife, mother, daughter, friend, and a really nice person. I don't think she, nor anyone for that matter, should have to deal with stuff like this. People don't want Guardian Angels around, the Police Chief says crime is exagerated, the Mayor and City Administrator don't think it's a priority, and some people feel safe. Tell that to this woman. It's time to get tough on these punks and get these gangs broken up. I'm tired of hearing about things like this happening and nothing being done to stop it. How much fun will it be when summer gets here? You're comments are welcome.
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17 comments:
It is not a priority - ask Lynn and AMbrose. They are bad for this city and so is Dumas.
I'll preface by saying I don't know what or if has been the city's response so far to this incident. However, this happened a short drive from the next corridors-to-be (Harrison Street corridors. Education corridors). In fact this woman's outlet was Harrision Street -- thank God she and the other two drivers actualy made it that far. All the energy is put in by consultants, experts and citizens to make a few miles a little bit prettier, but I see no organized effort put into making our streets safer. And this wasn't covered in the newspaper. More people drive 14th Street any afternoon than attended the corridor planning meeting, but those drivers wont' know the danger because the paper didn't cover it. The Mayor and most aldermen won't talk about it and they have all been informed what happened to these drivers. This hyprcrisy in Davenport will be our undoing.
Usually the city adds extra Police patrols of the area which are never there when these things happen. I suppose the people looking into the corridor improvement aren't concerned with crime either. I think the City Council isn't saying anything about it, in part, to protect the woman's indentity. In the QC Times today was a story about a car jacking on East Locust saying the victims were beat with ballbats yesterday. The Police did arrest the criminals, but it still happened. As to the City Council not caring, we can tell them what we think on election day.
We need a task force on crime.
The possible answer to the problem is community policing-Neighborhoods Energized to Succeed or NETS.
It works in Goose Creek and it will work in other parts of the city. Remember though, these thugs are there because of bad landlords who don't do criminal background checks on tenants, and they don't care what happens at the rental property because they want the city to run their rentals for them. Run out the slumlords and you run out the thugs.
Same old crap. You want another committee or task force created. Or better yet, let's blame it on the landlords. What a bunch of dopes!
anon. at 2:05 pm,
Any suggestion is better than name calling. If you're a property owner who's getting tired of the anti-rental property comments, you could offer a solution. The problems are here, I don't know where the troublemakers live, and suggestions are always welcome. I do think this problem will crop up during election time.
The council can speak up without naming who the victims were. The paper has published stories numerous times and left victim names out of it. I know one of the victims and there was no request for anonymity. The public needs to know the danger of driving down 14th STreet.
It has come to this, groups that were jumping on cars and running in groups of twenty are kicking in doors of the residents and ransacking the houses while the owners/tenants watch in horror. Like locust, these punks take what they want and destroy everything else in sight. Congrats, 13th and Gaines has the highest crime rate in Davenport. Community Policing has now moved to your neighborhood. Please support them and help them in any way (safe to you) as possible. Now you will see your tax dollars at work.
Only problem is where will they move to next. There is plenty of run down rental property in Davenport for them to go. We need to run them out of here and back to Chicago/St Louis.
OK Cruiser, you won me over. Bring on the Guardian Angels and may God help them.
Why run them back to Chicago/St.Louis where they can breed? Put them in prison until they're too old to hurt anybody. --Ghost
Why isn't ANY of this reported in our newspaper??
Snarky, ask the Times not Cruiser
The City Council and Police Chief could do something to slow down the crime, it's just not a priority for them. The policing only works as long as the police are there. Once word gets out they moved on the punks are back in business. The Guardian Angels are another possibility because they train people here how to handle things. They may not help, but at least it would be trying something. Running them out of town is another short term fix, because when they get run out of someplace else, they'll just come back. Sadly, the news doesn't report these things because they're too run of the mill. They have plenty of crime to choose from, they just don't run the stories. That would be a negative slant for our fine town.
Thank God for Bill Lynn and the guardian angels. He is bringing them here next month on the 8th and 9th.
Shut up Dan, your not helping the discussion along any.
To some up Prof Bill Lynn:
"Those who can do, those who can't become teachers".
No offence to the good teachers out there but Bill Lynn gives teaches a bad name.
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