Obviously, I’m shocked and saddened by the violence in our community. I’ve been speaking with the City Manager and the Police Department and they are working the problem from their end. I know we’ll get an update tomorrow evening at the Council meeting. If you have questions or thoughts, post them…
December 3, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Getting rid of one geographic location is not going to solve a problem that is city wide and region wide.
The city is in the process of organizing a community summit on gang activity. Call the city manager’s office or the city clerk. I’m sure they could use some citizen help pulling it together.
Here’s how Fairfax tackled the problem:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/27/AR2009052701544.html?sub=AR
And Lima, Ohio:
http://www.everyday-democracy.org/en/Article.344.aspx
It would be great to see people from churches, neighorhood associations, business community, schools, social service agencies and non-profits represented at the summit.
December 4, 2010 at 12:38 am
It’s not really City wide. Though, maybe I’ve missed the stories of gang stabbings in Summer Lake. Or in the north part of Old Town.
How you take care of the problem is by getting rid of the gang members, illegals and overcrowding.
December 4, 2010 at 12:50 am
Of course the washington post, the well known supporter of illegal aliens would support more social services, because that’s what liberals support.
We already have a Boys and Girls club, basketball courts at every school in the City, the Freedom Center, etc. We spend a ton of money on esl classes.
Are you saying one more basketball court is going to make the difference?
How about let’s try a complete crack down on crime. Rudy Giuliani, when mayor of New York City, had the police department focus on petty crimes. that greatly improved the daily lives of most residents of the City.
I can sit outside my house and watch cars entering and living GTS. Many of those cars speed, do not come to a complete stop at stop signs, and or have illegal care parts, for example the modified muffler. Target those crimes and that will put a dent on other criminal activities. Furthermore, it will cut down on the roving packs of youngsters who have no business being out late at night.
December 4, 2010 at 8:09 am
Anyone can sit and watch and say, I think you should do this or that. Read the article on the front page of the sports section in the News & Messenger today. Reach out and offer to mentor one young person and you will make more of a difference in this city than all your blog posts combined.
And gang members live everywhere in the city and in the region. Ask any police officer.
December 4, 2010 at 10:42 am
I have been following this thread without comment – till now – and there are two points I’ll toss in….
Over here in the Deer Park area, I live within the bunch of homes set in the middle of POW 1,2 & 3. Those townhomes have had their fair share of activity, with Stonewall Park being a “center” for some of it. Not to the extent of GTS, but activity has been there in POW…and the single family homes also have their share of “overcrowding” since calling them SFH is a misnomer. As Cindy pointed out, if cleaning out one spot solves the issue in one location, we still have it in others.
Police: lots of references to police action and the bottom line is we do not have enough officers due to budget constraints. By one standard, we should have around 120 Officers, and we have about 85+ or minus. In the military world, 120 is about the size of a company, and then we could have a blanket over the entire City. Then there would be sufficient numbers to handle such calls as responding to cars with modified mufflers which exceed the noise level. Even the articles Cindy pointed out reflect emphasis on the number of police. Yes, our Department works well with other agencies, but bottom line is we may have to add additional police.
December 4, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Some interesting thoughts and suggestions, but note:
– A GTS police substation last time around had a symbolic
value at first, but it proved not to be effective in the
long one. We quickly found having proactive
uniformed officers on the street working with
citizens was far better than ones inside a building.
Plus, having anything called “Fort Apache of
Firebase Kandahar” in one our residential communities
would send a message – a poor one. Steve
Thomas always seems to have good observations,
but I must disagree with him on this one.
– And Ray Beverage is right when he notes the
strained manpower situation we have in the MCPD.
This is a key issue the council will have to address
in the 2011-2012 budget.
– Fifteen years ago, we solicited help from our
distinguished state universities and Virginia Tech,
through the Extension Servive, did help us with
several major GTS community surveys. Even as a
moderate, though, I find that most of the academic
community leans to the left so much that obtaining
reasonable, objective, real-world helpful aid
is almost impossible.
– As always, I’m willing to chance my views – based on
facts, reason and commonsense – that is an
advantage of being Independent.
A Great Manassas Christmas Parade! Thanks to
everyone who helped to make it possible, including
the thousands of parade watchers.
An Osbourn Victory is going to make it a perfect day.
OHS!
GO EAGLES!
December 5, 2010 at 8:11 pm
Cindy,
You are right anyone can sit and watch. And, lots of outside people can come in and paint fences too. But, that did not stop the two stabbings.
I know liberals believe by just spending more money on social programs and allowing people to not accept self responsibility that it will somehow lead to an end of gang violence, etc. But not wanting additional law enforcement to target gang members is just crazy.
And while I’m not one to usually toot my own horn, and to counter your claim that I do not do anything with kids, I spend one night a week or more involved in a youth group that includes my son.
December 5, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Maybe if we were not spending so much on ESL classes the City would have more money for the police department.
No doubt the police are working hard with less resources, but I don’t think having a car sit on the street an hour or two a week is too much to ask.
December 7, 2010 at 11:32 am
What can be done to give property tax breaks to individuals, or perhaps even non-profits, to move into GTS?
When I was a DC resident, I really saw a difference in neighborhoods when they adopted individual tax incentives to help develop neighborhoods.
January 10, 2011 at 6:23 am
Hello guy did you had old archives ? I deal letter advance pro me … ..