Killadelphia: City of Brotherly Mayhem
November 2nd, 2007 by SHAUN MULLEN, TMV Columnist
An All Too Familiar Philly (Murder) Scene
The news from bloody Philadelphia just gets more and more horrifying.
I note that the city’s TV newscasts are cast in the “If It Bleeds It Leads” mold, but the mayhem one day this week was so bad that it soaked up 18 minutes of the 30-minute evening newscast on one station, barely leaving any time for really important stuff like the weather and sports.
The mayhem included incidents in which police Officer Charles Cassidy was shot in the head outside a previously robbed Dunkin’ Donuts by a perp who then stole his service revolver, another incident in which four people were wounded, including another officer, by an ex-con who drowned trying to escape his dragnet, and a lock-down at one of the city’s largest high schools.
Officer Cassidy, a 25-year veteran, has died. He was the fourth Philadelphia police officer shot this year, the third this week, and the second in just 12 hours in a city that is chronically poor, undereducated and violent — and shows no sign of coming to come to grips with its demons.
Mayor John Street led the Greek chorus that chimed in on cue after these latest war-zone convulsions in calling for stronger gun laws in a state where local jurisdictions are at the mercy of an adamantly pro-gun majority in the Legislature.
“Unless we can get control over the proliferation of illegal guns, then the people who are most at risk are, of course, the members of the Police Department,” Street said with practiced angst.
Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson belabored the obvious in saying that his officers are being “basically assassinated” by armed and violent criminals.
“The availability of weapons in our city . . . the availability of guns are really completely out of hand here in the city of Philadelphia,” he said. “Legislators have to realize that we have a gun problem.”
That “problem” has resulted in 325 murders in the first 10 months of the year, the highest big-city homicide rate per capita in the U.S., although the pace recently has slowed slightly from the 2006 rate, which resulted in 406 murders.
Meanwhile, New York City, with five times Philadelphia’s population and once America’s murder mecca, has had “only” 220 murders. Chicago and Los Angeles also lag far behind.
Please click here to read more at Kiko’s House.
This entry was posted on Friday, November 2nd, 2007 at 3:41 am and is filed under Poverty, Bush Administration, Black/African-American, Gun Control, State Politics, Racism, Crime, Domestic Programs. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
November 2nd, 2007 at 8:29 am
When you juxtapose life in Philadelphia wtih the luxury lives of those making laws and distributing resources, the decline of the US begins to take on a heightened meaning.
There are reasonble comprimises possible between the two views on gun control, but the reasonable have been pushed out of the picture by those protecting the supply of guns at every step and every level. It has reached a point that even doing research on the subject has been made nearly impossible, because of laws protecticng the gun business all the way through the supply chain.
The NRA is a major reason why I support public financing for political campaigns..
Maybe if pictures and crime statistics about Philadelphia were distributed more widely abroad, our esteemed leaders might be shamed into admtitting some of the dirty little secrets about how this country works and doesn’t work.
“Mr. Ambassador, tell me about Philadelphis’ is a question I would love to hear all around the globe.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:19 am
I would say then, if NY can do it, so can any large city. Follow New York’s example - broken windows, now who was responsible for that effort…..you’d think there would be more mention of that person’s name but it escapes me at the moment. Perhaps it is an unfair comparison and I’m just being more of a jerk today than usual, perhaps not.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:12 am
PWT,
If you’re really interested in NYC, I can tell you that it’s efforts at gun control have worked fairly well.to recuce crime.
It’s thwarted, however, in tracing the source of the guns coming into NYC by laws in neighboring and other states, like PA, which limit access to the pertinent infomation.
Guns are big business with a powerful lobby.
Philadelphis is but one result. NYC is impacted, as well.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:33 am
Itsn’t the real problem here is Black on Black violence. Where the MSM always wants to make a huge deal if there is case of white-on-black violenece or slur. They refuse to discuss the spiral downwards of Black Culture.
A spiral that was started with the explosion of the welfare state with its father-less children and now accelerating with the gloriification of the Gangsta lifestyle.
Some simple stats (that you can’t blame on just guns becuase many states that are not heavily black have very permissive gun laws).
——
Nationally, the murder rate for African-Americans is more than three times the average: 19 black murder victims per 100,000 people versus five for the general population.
In Pennsylvania, the disparity for black homicide is even more pronounced: 30 per 100,000, or six times the national average.
————
The Gangsta Culture is just live and well in Philadelphia just like it was in New Orleans just before the storm hit.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:52 am
MidAm-
No, sorry, you’ll have to find another situation to make this yhe fault of the black race.
The real story is one of inner city poverty where officials have their hands tied by lawmakers who don’t live there imposing restricions on what they can do to combat both poverty and crime.
November 2nd, 2007 at 1:16 pm
The “Gansta Lifestyle” in these areas is already a feature, it wasn’t promoted by music. The only people that hear the music and try to live it are in the suburbs. Those in the inner city are clued into it well before they hear any music, because its not just a song there, its how it is. And poor people violence has existed long before the “wellfare state”, thats just a total cop out. The ghettos were just as bad when they were populated with italians, germans, irish, et al.. Help for the poorest helps far more than it hurts.
November 2nd, 2007 at 1:21 pm
domajot,
I live in NYC.
I’m sure its been said before but, gun laws do very little to prevent criminals from obtaining guns. You know, marijuana is illegal but I can walk a few blocks south to Washington Square Park-or north to Central Park for that matter-and purchase some within a matter of minutes (not that I would, they sell crap down there but you get the point).
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Relevent reading
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:46 pm
PWT,
It depnds on wha kind of gun laws ans what kind of guns.
As you know, a legal and licensed gun is permissable in NYC. Those are seldom involved in crime, however.
Tracking down and elimininating the illegal sources for guns could, of course, never be fool-proog, but If it were possible, the supply could be curtailed.
Just like the indlux of illegal cigarettes was brought under control
When other states impede the process by passing laws to protect gun dealers, it’s NYC that pays the price, and people say gun laws don’t work. They sure don’t work if they are sabotaged by other states, that’s for sure.
T
November 3rd, 2007 at 7:09 am
Dom doesn’t what happened in NYC show that guns are not the biggest reason for crime? That the crime and murder rate was dropped so greatly without any change in the gun laws shows that. NYC had increasing tougher gun laws and the crime rate would go up.
Another point
Since when do other states need to put the desires on other States ahead of their own? Why would protecting the right of gun ownership (that is #2 on the big 10) be labeled as protecting gun dealers? Every state has their own state constitution with varied stances on many issues, is that a problem? Should following their own state constitution and the desires expressed by the constituents of their state really be considered sabotage?