the usual suspects?...

Since we’re in a recession, there tends to be a trend where crime spikes upward. And in the metropolitan area where I reside, crime is one thing – who is perceived to be doing the crime is another. So, lately the perpetrators of the few serious crimes have been … guess… Hispanics. And on more than one occasion, a Hispanic happened to also be an illegal immigrant; so that has put the liberal, savvy folks who reside in my county in a quandary. Tst.tst.

So, now what will the residents do? MoCo residents have fought tooth and nail against detaining illegal immigrants, created day labor centers, and providing much needed aid to the immigrant community. Well, the police chief is developing a proposal to have police officers check the immigration status of suspects arrested for violent crimes and weapon offenses. But opponents fear a slippery slope argument will be the result, encouraging racial/ethnic profiling and thereby undermining public safety. Although, serious crimes has risen in the county, the police acknowledge it is unknown the role illegal immigrants play in that matter.

And perception is a bitch. The only reason these liberal folks face a dilemma is because they strongly believe that illegal immigrants are here to work and provide for their families, they’re not here to cause trouble. And I still believe that is true for the majority; however you know one rotten apple spoils the bunch. But that’s it, how do you contain the stench that contamination surely brings on to the others?

When the proposal is sent to the county council for a vote, they better pass the legislation. You cannot justify perpetrators of serious crimes being illegal immigrants and tolerate that shit.

cheers,

Bellini

Round 'em up. NOW, part ii

I told you, we would revisit this topic and the time is now. To the ire of some, they were not feeling my opinion on the matter. But in the nation’s capital the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) chose to do as my post is titled – Round ‘em up NOW.

“It was a warm afternoon in the District's Trinidad neighborhood, and a group of boys was walking shirtless in the streets, some with pants hanging down below their behinds.”

This is part of the problem – I didn’t say the origins of the problem, but problematic nonetheless.

“One of the boys had thrown a plastic soda bottle at a youth passing by on a moped, nearly causing a crash. "Unsupervised teenagers -- that's part of the problem,"... "Now, how they're getting a hold of all these guns and drugs, that's the other part."”

Just a neighborly observation as told to a columnist for the Washington Post.

Now, remember these quotes as I make my point ….

In a neighborhood that is in the backyard of the US Capitol, during the past two weeks there was a spike in homicides. So, the chief of police and the mayor’s chief legal counsel devised a plan Neighborhood Safety Zone to contain the number of homicides in this neighborhood. Over a 6-day period, they imposed a military-style ID checkpoint on a street in that neighborhood. In effect, stopping all motorists (however pedestrians could walk on by). The efficacy of the plan was criticized, considering that pedestrians were not stopped and if a motorist was denied entry at the checkpoint – they could enter the neighborhood via other streets, alleys, etc. Now some residents were peeved and others were relieved. During MPD presence, no homicides occurred.

I must admit the mayor and chief of police strong-armed residents of the embattled district. The mayor’s office didn’t inform the city council of his intentions let alone residents of that district. But then again, the mayor of café au lait has operated in this manner since the inception of his mayoral term. His claim would be: In the name of efficiency – I gots to do what I gots to do—and for the most part—his newly minted citizens (circa ‘90s +) don’t mind his style. They like when the job is done.

Lest I forget to mention, that the neighborhood is slowly being gentrified. A new train stop was added a few years ago. Residents built a new charter school – so a change is comin’

Remember the quotes above

The issue of civil rights vs. civil liberties is not new in this country. It is a crude idea for the government to intrude in your neighborhood while you pay taxes and such, however you better devise a plan of your own and become proactive 'cuz if not the government will adopt their own plan to the ire of many.

Now critics to my original post can twiddle their thumbs all they want, but the government ain’t waiting for ya to figure things out. So, either we round ‘em up NOW and salvage what’s left of our neighborhoods and rebuild or they will round ‘em up NOW.
It’s your call to make.

cheers,

Bellini

P.S. Congratulations to the Boston Celtics, stone-cold crushing LA!

in response to "round em up now" and the beloved community

i started to comment but i didn't have time to fully articulate my disgust for this "let us search your shit for kicks and we MIGHT not prosecute you" program that's being floated by DC and other cities. my vote is...

hellll to da nawww!

first off just reading the proposal points that bellini outlined yesterday, the program seems way too sketchy for me. as gangsta d pointed out in the comments, the program goes nowhere if there is no community buy-in, no "volunteers" willing to let the police all up and through they residence on a search for guns and drugs. AND they want people to sign consent forms that will most likely (a) allow the police to do whatever the hell they want when they enter your home and (b) waive any responsibilities or liabilities or promises on the police's part to not prosecute, be nice, and not fuck up your shit in the process.

Then the kicker is that if the guns are found to have been involved in a crime of some sort, the police will launch an "investigation" and you best believe charges will be filed and your ass is goin to jail. despite the wishy washy language in the article quote, somebody's gettin locked up! Again, whose gonna sign up for that? knowing as rum punch pointed out the history between the police and our people, dirty cops who plant, manipulate and otherwise twist evidence against us comes to mind.

i'm sorry bellini but i doubt if the aclu has enough "extra" lawyers to cover these random neighborhood sweeps to make sure the law is being enforced. furthermore, who would pay for these attorneys even if they could be found? the city and/or police force is damn sure not gonna fork over the money to provide oversight to a program they concocted.

i really do hear you that the "status quo" is not working but a failure in policing and crime fighting does not warrant an abandoment of folks basic rights, a relaxation of the constitutional freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. how bout the mayor and police force put there heads together to come up with creative LEGAL solutions to reduce crime that respect the humanity of the citizens and communities they interact with. but those are just my thoughts.

this post did get me to thinking about crime and black communities and black folks varied views about the crime in ours and other black communities and how to best tackle the problem. (yea that was quite long but follow me). you see this past weekend, i visited the new city to look for an apartment. i found a gorgeous place in an historically black community in the city. it is in a lovingly restored historic home with a balcony and a view of the city skyline. on a quiet couple of blocks in a historically black community that a native told me was "not some place where i wanted to live" and that i should pick an apartment near one of the white univiersities with white neighbors who would look out for me and my things.

now i took this advice somewhat seriously cause this is a new city that i've never lived in and i'm not trying to get shot walking from my car to my apartment. but the notion that i could only be safe in an area surrounded by whites was quite hilarious, especially coming a black person. i thought about the historically black neighborhoods in cities that i have lived in, like auburn avenue or the west end in atlanta. areas where you can find the most beautiful homes (like the one MLK grew up in) inhabited by upwardly mobile black folks and your obligatory gay white men on one block and crackheads a couple of blocks away.

i think that we should be cautious about fleeing these communities that we have historically inhabited because we percieve there to be more crime in these areas. being the internets slueth that i am, i did of search of both neighborhoods on the city's crime statistics website and found that both areas experienced about the same level of crime (thefts and auto thefts) in the past couple of months. but the perception is that since black folks live over there, the neighborhood is crap. what's white is right, and if you black, stay back!

if i (or we) followed this line of thinking, our most precious cultural gems will be handed over to crime and then to pioneering white folks who come in and gentrify. the difference is that those white folks demand respectful and diligent policing of their neighborhoods and aren't afraid to snitch on dem boys who be slinging on the corner.

i don't have all the solutions but i'm willing to put my head together with those who are willing to work and do something constructive about the problem. are you?

Round 'em up. NOW

A few weeks ago, I read in the paper that the Washington D.C.'s mayor and his city's police department proposed the launch of the Safe Homes Initiative. "Police [would] target areas hit by violence and seek adults who let them search their homes for guns, with no risk of arrest... [It] also applies to drugs that turn up during the searches, police said...Residents who agree to the searches will be asked to sign consent forms. If guns are found, they will be tested to determine whether they were used in crimes. If the results are positive, police will launch investigations, which could lead to charges." Apparently Boston and Philadelphia [fyi-- allegedly has the higest murder rate of any US city] are considering launching the same initiative, too [courtesy of Washington Post].

Uh oh--classic showdown between civil liberties vs. civil rights.

We already have the critics of the plan as expected who feel the police don't deserve to come in their homes they haven't earned that privilege. Also, these critics feel it is unfairly targeting poor neighborhoods, which also happen to be predominantly black/Latino. All these things are true, however, I am tired of hearing, reading, or seeing another knucklehead arrested for blowing another brotha's head off -- when his ass should have been in school or at the very least in the house. These kids are young as hell and whoever their guardains are maybe mama n'em, grandmama n'em, auntie n'em, godmommy n'em, neighbor n'em [you get my point]should let them search their house. It is my belief that these roughnecks are housing these firearms not too far from where they are committing their crime.

Dire circumstances coerce us to be proactive and do something. These ruffnecks are blowing each others heads off and folks have an issue with MPD doing a search? N**** please, get a grip -- there are times when the welfare for the collective trumps the individual. The firearms are definitely complicit in the problem -- let's round 'em up. NOW.

cheers,

Bellini