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Offline Dali Llama

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Neighborhood shootings are no joking matter
« on: June 18, 2004, 02:27:17 AM »
Neighborhood shootings are no joking matter
Published June 17, 2004


The mayor of Boynton Beach has an interesting solution to the city's crime problem.

Since January, some of Boynton's poorest streets have been plagued by an outburst of violence. Police have investigated at least seven shootings, including several drive-bys.

Three people have died by gunfire, compared to one killing in 2003.

In two cases, police have made arrests. But they've been hampered in most of the others. Witnesses, apparently fearing retaliation, won't come forward. There's speculation it's all tied to drugs.

Mayor Jerry Taylor commented on the situation earlier this month. At a City Commission meeting, he said the problem was one of "bad guys against bad guys."

Then he offered a remedy:

"I'll probably be criticized for saying this, but I wish they were better shots."

That wasn't all. When a commissioner asked how officials could help fight crime in the city, Taylor answered, "Do you have a weapons permit?"

I don't know why the mayor expected to be criticized. All he did was jokingly advocate that certain citizens be used for target practice.

Boy, how come no one thought of this sooner?

Instead of sending crime suspects through the justice system -- where they're likely to be returned to the streets some day -- wouldn't it be more efficient to sponsor lessons for them at firing ranges?

Just last week, a 21-year-old named Timothy Alexander fired two or three shots at an 18-year-old. He missed. Alexander was charged with aggravated assault.

Now, if Alexander had been up on his firearms skills, the authorities could have charged him with murder and maybe put him away for good.

His intended victim would be dead, but there's no need to feel bad about that. The mayor tells us they're all bad guys.

Of course, you'll always have your spoilsports who look down on this kind of thinking.

I found a bunch of them in the neighborhood that's most threatened by the gunfire.

Did I mention that the neighborhood we're talking about, just north of Boynton's City Hall, is made up mainly of black people? That most of the victims and shooters are black?

People here have the quaint idea that city officials should be striving to protect their safety, not making light of bloodshed.

Donald Godfrey, 45, was visiting at the Boynton Terrace Apartments, not far from where some of the shootings took place. He was shocked at what the mayor said.

"That's real sad. That's an insult. That's a racial remark," Godfrey said.

He was with a half-dozen men and women, sitting in the shade on a sparse lawn outside the public-housing complex, sipping Budweisers and gabbing on a 90-degree afternoon.

Jennifer Butler, 36, expressed alarm for her son, Joshua, 13. He rides his gleaming red bicycle on the same streets where people are dodging bullets.

"The mayor wouldn't care," she concluded, "about a black boy being shot."

The people I spoke with said they hated the violence. But when they look around, they don't see hardened criminals.

"These kids aren't bad," Godfrey argued. "They don't have a mother or father, a lot of them. They're not raised right. They don't have the understanding, the love, the support."

This doesn't give you a pass if you shoot someone. But it does suggest that a better solution might be shutting down the drug trafficking that fuels the violence.

Taylor told me he has indeed urged police to crack down on the dealing. And he insists he didn't mean anything racial by his gunfire remarks.

"Bad guys come in all colors," he said this week. "Good people shouldn't be insulted. Only the bad guys -- and if they're insulted, I don't care."

Taylor probably means no harm. But words matter. And he chose his badly.

A white mayor joking about raising the death count in a black neighborhood. What kind of comfort is that to people who live there?

Howard Goodman's column is published Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. He can be reached at hgoodman@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6638.
AKA "Blademan52" from Marlin Talk

Offline gino

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Neighborhood shootings are no joking matter
« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2004, 05:55:58 AM »
Nearly all of the murders in my city are gang related. There's usually not a nickels worth of difference between the shooter & the victim. Some of our neighborhoods are like a self cleaning oven.
gino

Offline NYH1

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Neighborhood shootings are no joking matter
« Reply #2 on: June 18, 2004, 06:59:01 AM »
Quote from: gino
Nearly all of the murders in my city are gang related.

Its the same way in the city I live in. :shock:
 
Quote from: ginno
There's usually not a nickels worth of difference between the shooter & the victim.

Yup, thats true! :?
 
Quote from: gino
Some of our neighborhoods are like a self cleaning oven.
gino
The only problem is they breed faster then they die off! :twisted:
"ROLL TIDE". . .Back To Back. . .Three In The Last Four Years "GO GIANTS"  "YANKEES"

Offline dawei

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Neighborhood shootings are no joking matter
« Reply #3 on: June 18, 2004, 08:05:59 AM »
Quote from: gino
Nearly all of the murders in my city are gang related. There's usually not a nickels worth of difference between the shooter & the victim. Some of our neighborhoods are like a self cleaning oven.
gino


Like when a drug dealer is robbed; a truly victimless crime.

Offline Dali Llama

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Neighborhood shootings are no joking matter
« Reply #4 on: June 18, 2004, 08:21:30 AM »
Quote from: gino
Some of our neighborhoods are like a self cleaning oven.
gino
:shock:  :shock: Dali Llama say place where departed go likely remind them of home then... :eek:  :eek:
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Offline papajohn428

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Neighborhood shootings are no joking matter
« Reply #5 on: June 20, 2004, 06:35:47 AM »
The "Good Riddance Factor" theory has been around for twenty years, this guy didn't make it up.  Jeff Cooper suggested long ago that since these little private wars are mostly between consenting lawless parties, we should keep them well supplied with the best ammo there is.  

And I'm sick of the race card being played every time a white guy says something about dope dealers.  Most of them ARE minorities, who are selling crack to their neighbors.  Turf wars over who gets to sell to whom go back to Prohibition and beyond.  No one was screaming "Racists!" when all the participants were white guys in bad suits.  If 90% of an area's population is black, and the cops stop a black driver, it's not "Racial Profiling", it's the law of averages.  And cops DO stop white guys in black neighborhoods, because they obviously don't belong there.  Same for stopping blacks in white neighborhoods.  It's called an "investigative stop" and it is a wonderful way for police to stop criminal activity before it starts.  Don't bother telling me it's all racially motivated, it's a two-way street, and an effective tool.  

Sorry if this sounds rude, I'm just sick of every issue being turned into a reason to hate "oppressive" white folks like me, who treat everyone the same, and still get called a racist.  Mostly by racists!  :roll:

PJ
If you can shoot home invaders, why can't you shoot Homeland Invaders?

Offline NYH1

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Neighborhood shootings are no joking matter
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2004, 08:22:51 AM »
Quote from: papajohn428
 

Sorry if this sounds rude, I'm just sick of every issue being turned into a reason to hate "oppressive" white folks like me, who treat everyone the same, and still get called a racist.  Mostly by racists!  :roll:

PJ


papajohn428, I hear ya loud and clear brother!
I live in a Central New York county of a little over 400,000 people. The "county" as a whole had 25 murder's last year. Of the 25 murder's, 23 of them happened in the "city" I live in of about 148,000 people. Of the 23 murder's in the "city" if memory serves me right, I think 21 of the murder's were black gang members shooting other black gang members. It use to bother me when I read the paper and saw all the killing by the gang members, now I just wish they would hurry up and "expel" each other so we don't have to hear about it anymore! I know thats a terrible thing to say but if they want to live that life, then I hope they get it over with before they hurt other people that aren't involved, which happens!!!

As far as the "racist thing" gos, from my dealings with "black's" which is all of my life sense I started school at 6 years old, they are more racist then whites. Or I should say their more "outspoken" with their racism then whites. When I was in school they would call a teacher a "white b*tch" and it was over and done with. If a "white person" called a black teacher a "black b*tch" it was WWIII. Its the same why were I work (a factory with almost 4,000 people). They can be racist and it OK, if "whitey" is racist then they think they are intitled to something for that. I also read that black's are about 12% of the U.S population, but make up about 75% of the prison population in this country! I know, I know its our fault for that too, "I think not"

I know that this is just "MY" little corner of the world. I do know some black's that are "good people", I really do. But "it is what it is"
drive by shooting or gang shootings don't happen in my neighborhood or in any white neighborhoods in my area!
"ROLL TIDE". . .Back To Back. . .Three In The Last Four Years "GO GIANTS"  "YANKEES"

Offline 1895GG

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Neighborhood shootings are no joking matter
« Reply #7 on: June 20, 2004, 11:08:33 AM »
I live in a small town, next to a larger town of about 20,000.  It is on an interstate highway between two cities about 100 miles in each direction.  Drugs and associated problems have been in those cities for many years, but a little moonshine and a little marijuana was all that used to be found occasionally.  Now there is a "Drug Task Force" in the next town that is really cracking down.  Every time I read the newspaper it seems they are busting a meth lab.  For those of you living in large cities, this is nothing, but for Small-Town-America, this is something that never happened a few years ago.  Guess it has gotten so "hot" in the larger cities, they are migrating to the smaller towns.  And as fellow Okie, Will Rogers, used to say, "All I know is what is in the newspapers", but it sounds like we have a police force that knows what they are doing and have their priorities straight.
Shoot That ThAng!

Offline Dali Llama

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Neighborhood shootings are no joking matter
« Reply #8 on: June 21, 2004, 01:39:30 AM »
Quote from: 1895GG
Guess it has gotten so "hot" in the larger cities, they are migrating to the smaller towns.
That unfortunately appear to be the case, say Dali Llama. :cry:  :(  :cry:
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Offline ironglow

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Neighborhood shootings are no joking matter
« Reply #9 on: July 12, 2004, 02:05:54 AM »
Where it really hurts the rest of us is when we need the services of Doctors/Hospitals...
   Most of us are covered by insurance that we pay for, one way or another. Very few insurance policies cover 100 percent; there is usually a big gap left that we must pay out of pocket.
  By these public parasites popping each other and of course, paying none of their vast bills (even though they make big money with dope)....their bills are being shifted over onto the rest of us....somebody has to pay for it.
  These people, that for the most part of their lives have already had the taxpayer paying their routine medical expenses all their young lives, suddenly have sent their expenses through the roof.
   Next time your Mrs. is hospitalized and you get the $3000 gap bill, you can probably figure that $1500 went to some piece of drug-dealing waste.

   Undoubtedly goes for legal drug costs also...someone has to pay for their "freebees"...
If you don't want the truth, don't ask me.  If you want something sugar coated...go eat a donut !  (anon)

Offline Dali Llama

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Neighborhood shootings are no joking matter
« Reply #10 on: July 15, 2004, 04:57:54 PM »
Quote from: ironglow
their bills are being shifted over onto the rest of us....somebody has to pay for it.
...and it be middle class, say Dali Llama. :(  :(  :(
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