Street lockdowns proposed for Baltimore

[krunchykrome]

BALTIMORE - A city council leader, alarmed by Baltimore's rising homicide rate, wants to give the mayor the power to put troubled neighborhoods under virtual lockdown.

Under Curran's plan, the mayor could declare "public safety act zones," which would allow police to close liquor stores and bars, limit the number of people on city sidewalks, and halt traffic during two-week intervals.

Police would be encouraged to aggressively stop and frisk individuals in those zones to search for weapons and drugs.

Baltimore has tallied 108 homicides already this year, compared to 98 over the same period last year. Police and prosecutors also say they are facing a "stop snitching" culture that discourages victims and witnesses from cooperating with investigators trying to get criminals off the streets.

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I don't have a problem with this. The situation really needs to be taken under control.

 

[waggy]

martial law FTW!

 

[paulxcook]

I don't like things that resemble a police state, but the "stop snitching" culture seems to be a real problem.

 

[Estrella]

i agree with it. "stop snitching" ****** is retarded and out of hand.

 

[shocksyde]

It will be interesting to see if this plan works.

 

[OverVolt]

I'm around the area, this is being blasted everywhere on the news.

The root of the problem is the drugs blackmarket. I don't see how this is going to help at all.

Maryland is uber-democrat.

This is such a major violation of rights and the benefit isn't even clear cut. I really hope this doesn't get put into law.

 

[Howard]

I absolutely cannot condone this.

 

[kranky]

Originally posted by: paulxcook
I don't like things that resemble a police state, but the "stop snitching" culture seems to be a real problem.

There's an element of that here as well. It's astounding to me that people would let their neighborhood turn into the Wild West rather than risk the displeasure of their neighbors due to "snitching". Somehow, their culture has morphed neighborhood pride into acceptance of daily shootings, innocent people getting shot, people becoming prisoners in their own homes after dark. I can't understand how they don't recognize the only people who benefit from a "stop snitching" culture are the criminals.

 

[fisheerman]

Originally posted by: kranky

Originally posted by: paulxcook
I don't like things that resemble a police state, but the "stop snitching" culture seems to be a real problem.

There's an element of that here as well. It's astounding to me that people would let their neighborhood turn into the Wild West rather than risk the displeasure of their neighbors due to "snitching". Somehow, their culture has morphed neighborhood pride into acceptance of daily shootings, innocent people getting shot, people becoming prisoners in their own homes after dark. I can't understand how they don't recognize the only people who benefit from a "stop snitching" culture are the criminals.

bet not say it!

 

[MercenaryForHire]

PAPERS PLEASE
Can I help you?
PAPERS PLEASE
I was just walking down the street.
PAPERS PLEASE
What did I do?
PAPERS PLEASE OR YOU WILL BE SHOT

- M4H

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
PAPERS PLEASE
Can I help you?
PAPERS PLEASE
I was just walking down the street.
PAPERS PLEASE
What did I do?
PAPERS PLEASE OR YOU WILL BE SHOT

- M4H

yeap.

i just can't see this working or them doing it for long.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
PAPERS PLEASE
Can I help you?
PAPERS PLEASE
I was just walking down the street.
PAPERS PLEASE
What did I do?
PAPERS PLEASE OR YOU WILL BE SHOT

- M4H

yeap.

i just can't see this working or them doing it for long.

See, it sounds like harrassement, but the truth is that most of these people just walking the streets of Baltimore are up to no good. Seriously, what are grown adults walking the streets of Baltimore for during the day? Do they have jobs? What are they doing? And why are kids walking the streets during the day? Why arent they in school? It may seem like quite a stereotype, but I honestly believe that most of these people are up to no good.

 

[nakedfrog]

Stop snitching so we can kill each other and innocent bystanders (maybe even your kids) in peace!

 

[mugs]

Police and prosecutors also say they are facing a "stop snitching" culture that discourages victims and witnesses from cooperating with investigators trying to get criminals off the streets.

Just build a wall around the city and let nature take its course.

 

[evident]

i would totally support this in philly as well

 

[ggnl]

Originally posted by: kranky

Originally posted by: paulxcook
I don't like things that resemble a police state, but the "stop snitching" culture seems to be a real problem.

There's an element of that here as well. It's astounding to me that people would let their neighborhood turn into the Wild West rather than risk the displeasure of their neighbors due to "snitching". Somehow, their culture has morphed neighborhood pride into acceptance of daily shootings, innocent people getting shot, people becoming prisoners in their own homes after dark. I can't understand how they don't recognize the only people who benefit from a "stop snitching" culture are the criminals.

Decades of police abuse has a lot to do with it too. Trust is a two way street. A lot of minorities and poor whites have been treated like criminals their whole lives, it's no wonder they've stopped cooperating with police.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Originally posted by: ggnl

Originally posted by: kranky

Originally posted by: paulxcook
I don't like things that resemble a police state, but the "stop snitching" culture seems to be a real problem.

There's an element of that here as well. It's astounding to me that people would let their neighborhood turn into the Wild West rather than risk the displeasure of their neighbors due to "snitching". Somehow, their culture has morphed neighborhood pride into acceptance of daily shootings, innocent people getting shot, people becoming prisoners in their own homes after dark. I can't understand how they don't recognize the only people who benefit from a "stop snitching" culture are the criminals.

Decades of police abuse has a lot to do with it too. Trust is a two way street. A lot of minorities and poor whites have been treated like criminals their whole lives, it's no wonder they've stopped cooperating with police.

Of course the flip side of that is that a lot of minorities and poor whites ARE criminals.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: mugs

Police and prosecutors also say they are facing a "stop snitching" culture that discourages victims and witnesses from cooperating with investigators trying to get criminals off the streets.

Just build a wall around the city and let nature take its course.

Escape from Baltimore :laugh:

 

[purbeast0]

Maryland would be a better place w/out Baltimore.

 

[Ronstang]

Originally posted by: OverVolt
I'm around the area, this is being blasted everywhere on the news.

The root of the problem is the drugs blackmarket. I don't see how this is going to help at all.

Maryland is uber-democrat.

This is such a major violation of rights and the benefit isn't even clear cut. I really hope this doesn't get put into law.

Exactly why the problems exist in the first place.

 

[davestar]

Originally posted by: kranky

Originally posted by: paulxcook
I don't like things that resemble a police state, but the "stop snitching" culture seems to be a real problem.

There's an element of that here as well. It's astounding to me that people would let their neighborhood turn into the Wild West rather than risk the displeasure of their neighbors due to "snitching". Somehow, their culture has morphed neighborhood pride into acceptance of daily shootings, innocent people getting shot, people becoming prisoners in their own homes after dark. I can't understand how they don't recognize the only people who benefit from a "stop snitching" culture are the criminals.

"risk the displeasure of their neighbors"? how about "risk being shot by their neighbors" if they snitch.

 

[Darwin333]

Originally posted by: kranky

Originally posted by: paulxcook
I don't like things that resemble a police state, but the "stop snitching" culture seems to be a real problem.

There's an element of that here as well. It's astounding to me that people would let their neighborhood turn into the Wild West rather than risk the displeasure of their neighbors due to "snitching". Somehow, their culture has morphed neighborhood pride into acceptance of daily shootings, innocent people getting shot, people becoming prisoners in their own homes after dark. I can't understand how they don't recognize the only people who benefit from a "stop snitching" culture are the criminals.

We have the very same problem here in the N'awlins area. The people are not worried about the "displeasure" of their neighbors. They are worried that they or their children could very possibly be killed because they "snitched" on someone. In my area the police are basically unable to protect witnesses and quite a few have come up dead.

Would you testify against a murderer if you knew their was a very high chance that your own child will be killed/harmed?

 

[kranky]

You do what is right. This "no snitching" thing only emboldens the criminals and forfeits the rights of the law-abiding citizens. I don't think I could consciously choose to help criminals continue their murdering ways.

If that's the kind of neighborhood I lived in, and I had no options to move elsewhere, then I think I would testify anyway. It's not a status quo thing in this case - if you don't try to make it better, it will most assuredly get worse. I realize that's easy to say since I don't live in that kind of environment, but you can't bury your head in the sand and hope for the best. Those people are only guaranteeing things will get worse.

It didn't get that bad overnight and it won't get better overnight either. There are far more law-abiding citizens then there are bad guys and there have been plenty of situations where a neighborhood decided they had had enough and cleaned things up. It doesn't turn into a bloodbath - the bad guys, who are lazy by nature, just move to another area.

 

[FlashG]

Originally posted by: kranky
You do what is right. This "no snitching" thing only emboldens the criminals and forfeits the rights of the law-abiding citizens. I don't think I could consciously choose to help criminals continue their murdering ways.

If that's the kind of neighborhood I lived in, and I had no options to move elsewhere, then I think I would testify anyway. It's not a status quo thing in this case - if you don't try to make it better, it will most assuredly get worse. I realize that's easy to say since I don't live in that kind of environment, but you can't bury your head in the sand and hope for the best. Those people are only guaranteeing things will get worse.

It didn't get that bad overnight and it won't get better overnight either. There are far more law-abiding citizens then there are bad guys and there have been plenty of situations where a neighborhood decided they had had enough and cleaned things up. It doesn't turn into a bloodbath - the bad guys, who are lazy by nature, just move to another area.

wisdom ftw :thumbsup:[/quote]

 

[Vic]

<Nazi voice>

Papiere bitte!

</Nazi voice>


No system of law enforcement that treats all people as criminals and forces them to prove their innocence will ever be effective at curtailing crime. Quite the opposite.