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!