Rich makes two main points below, both of which have
the same root.
First, all of the crime Rich mentions would not have
been stopped with the existence of code4, in fact,
much of it has occurred during the reign of code4 (I
am across the alley from Rich so I have a pretty good
idea of the timeline of events mentioned).
The fact is that the surround of force which exists in
communities of poverty only perpetuates crime, and
this is exemplified by the existence of a mechanism
such as code4, and amplified by continued high profile
instances of police use of excessive force, joined
with the daily anecdotal evidence of racial profiling
and general (mis)behavior by the police.
Second, as far as getting involved with the police,
there are two serious problems. The main problem is
that for many of us, we see the police as
unaccountable for their actions. When there seems to
be overwhelming evidence of police acting
inappropriately and having no consequences to face for
their actions, it is a major deterrent for getting
involved. There is little reason for a person that
feels disenfranchised to team up with their oppressor.
Until it is evident to the general, underclass of the
population that the police are accountable for their
actions there is absolutely no motivation to work with
them. People that are happy with the police tend to
be priviledged and/or disinterested with the plight of
the poor and minority communities. It is hideously
obvious who's interest the police by and large protect
and every minority and poor person has a very clear
understanding of this fact.
The second problem with getting involved with the
police, is that they either do nothing, or do not
listen to your concerns and do what they think the
best course of action is, not taking into account the
perspective of the community. In addition to
anecdotal evidence, I have my own experience with this
great ability for inaction. When I moved into the
neighborhood there was not an active block club, so I
decided to team up with a neighbor and start it back
up. For about a year and a half we had meetings and
communicated with our SAFE officer, we were
continually given "progress" reports for problem
properties, being convinced that our "main problem"
(which is a whole nuther story) was on the verge of
being solved. The fact is, it was not solved and to
this day remains (with a murder attached, as well).
The police were either unable to solve the problem, or
unwilling to invest resources to solve the problem.
The fact is that it always seemed like there was major
double-talk coming from the police, and it always
seemed like our concerns were falling on deaf ears.
Sure, they would nod politely, and give us confidence
they were our allies, but I, as well as others on the
block, left utterly unconvinced.
When Rich makes statements like the police should be
worked with, instead of protested against, I think he
fails to realize that certain communities have no
alternative but to protest. Don't get me wrong, I
understand what it is like to live in an area that has
it's problems. My point is that until the police make
themselves accountable and allow for meaningful
community interaction, the problems that Rich mentions
will continue, and get much, much worse. A Florida
police chief said (a couple of years back) that if
poverty is not solved in the next 20-30 years, he
would have to start shooting people in the streets.
His point was that he did not want to be responsible
for killing people, he did not care about the poor -
this is where we are at in Minneapolis and something
has to change otherwise things will only get worse.
Jon Kelland
Bryant
--- Richard McMartin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Maybe none of the follow are not my rights but do I
> at least have the
> expectation that our society will protect my family
> and the everyone
> else in the neighborhood from some of the following:
>
> - Having guns aimed at your daughter while waiting
> for the bus near our
> home.
> - Having a guns fired at a drug house when your
> spouse walks down the
> alley near that house.
> - Having you neighbors 14 year old son murdered by
> his brother's
> unsatisfied drug customers. My family heard the
> last dying gasps of
> this youngster while his sister cried that they had
> shot her brother.
> - Having bullets pass through my living room 3 feet
> under my bed.
> - Having a guy continue urinating on my garage in
> front of my daughter
> and I as she drives up to the garage. After all he
> was just visiting
> friends down the alley that "were minding their own
> business".
> - Not being allowed to get to my garage because some
> of those friends
> "minding their own business" blocked the alley.
> - Having my house, squirrels, cats, various garage
> doors, pelted by
> pellet guns.
> - Having glass broken all over the alley by guys
> playing "baseball" with
> at aluminum bat and a couple of empty 12 packs of
> Budwieser bottles?
> - Having guys urinate on the sidewalk in front of
> and across the street
> while my family is on the front porch.
> - Having a peace making neighbor named Darell get
> stabbed and die in our
> alley just because he was trying to break up a fight
> over a gambling
> dispute. This happened while my daughter had a
> friend over. No wonder
> parents were reluctant to let there kids come over
> to our place to play.
>
> And yes running a red light is a crime - no matter
> what the mode of
> transportation. It is just a minor crime known as a
> misdemenaor. Why do
> we have such laws as "don't run a red light"? It is
> an attempt to make
> the transportation system work by providing a common
> set of
> understandable rules that everyone can follow. It
> makes it less likely
> that we will accidentally kill each other.
>
> The police need to be monitored and punished when
> they break the rules.
> There are ways for this to happen. YOU have to do
> some of the
> following:
> - attend Precinct Advisory Committee meetings.
> - Start a block club.
> - Talk to your SAFE officer and your CCP. Let them
> know when you have
> concerns about police or problems on your block.
> - Get to know the cops so that you become a human to
> them and they
> become humans to you. The police need to try to
> reach out and do this
> too.
> - Listen to the C4 meetings instead of protesting
> them. Bring up your
> concerns at those meetings.
>
>
>
> --
> Rich McMartin
> mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Bryant Neighborhood of Minneapolis
> _______________________________________________
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