Everything’s FINE!
I was looking at the weekly Crime Reports for my neighborhood (not this one), and having a discussion with a co-worker about the recent rash of break-ins in the Brookside/Waldo area, where he lives. I decided to just scroll further north, and a little east. (Basically State Line Road on the west, 47th St on the South, 31st St to the north, and east of Benton Blvd.) Watching all those colorful little boxes erupt on my screen – 12 days of crime, not even two full weeks – 350+ crimes in just that geography – made me stop and wonder just how bad it’s gotta get before it can get better.
Sorry to add to the negative swirl that’s out there – economy, jobs, health care, money, crime …. I’m tired of being barraged with it. I also feel that as a resident of Kansas City, there is no way in HELL we can afford to make cuts to the police budget right now. (I mean, I’m all in favor of traffic cops moving to a beat, maybe that’s how we work it out….except I’m sure ticket writing has to go UP in order to fund the department.)
Sigh.
The council thinks that a 12 million dollar cut in the police budget won’t hurt the officers on the street… or, they say, if it will we’ll make cuts elsewhere. My suggestion is make those elsewhere cuts now. There have been 5 shootings within 3 blocks of my house in the last month.