I agree to an extent. Krasner definitely needs to do more to crack down on the gun problem and the revolving door shows that our incarceration policy is failing. I'm for criminal justice reform but it's clear that we can't take gun offenses lightly. Everyone myself included knows somebody who's been a victim of gun violence. We also need to control the flow of guns in the first place so that we don't just end up prosecuting the population that most of the time sees an illegal firearm as the only way to defend themselves. Where are all these blicks coming from? What's the distribution network? How does our department coordinate with other law enforcement agencies to stem the flow?
Also the fact that they wanna put a safe-injection site in Kenzo is crazy. That'll just make the neighborhood even worse, it's already the drug capital of the East Coast. For god's sake, they had to close down the el at Kenzo and Somerset because there was so much pee and needles there. I say the city put a safe-injection site in Rittenhouse so all of the yuppies can see the problem for themselves, not joking I'm serious. Shouldn't we put it right were everyone has to see the mass failure of our city and government to deal with the opioid crisis?
At the same time though, more tough-on-crime rhetoric isn't going to make the problem go away. We already tried that in the 90s. If you live in North Philly you know what I'm talking about. Having cops in our schools only creates more distrust between the communities and law enforcement. The policies of the previous generation have only led to mass incarceration that has decimated the locals. Why do we focus on deterrence when that strategy has failed time and time again and destroyed family after family? I know you've probably lived in the city long enough to understand that residents have very good reason to
not trust PPD. We need both sustained investment in our communities and to crack down on illegal guns. It's hard to say it out loud but you alluded to it that if you don't trust the cops then you're going to start taking matters into your own hands.
That's exactly what's been going on in blighted areas for the past 40 years.The big problem I see on the ground is the kids have no opportunity. The schools are garbage and the tax base is crumbling. A lot of areas were hit really hard by deindustrialization and never recovered. Working in the city is disincentivized by the fact that we have the largest municipality wage tax in the country. I can vouch for that myself, I made sure both of my college internships were outside the city because I didn't want to pay it. Kids aren't stupid, they see who's calling the shots, who's getting the nice cars, who's got money, who's getting the broads. It's the dealers. If you're a shorty, why wouldn't you start doing the same thing?
If Police had better training, there would be less racial bias. Defunding the police is not a smart idea.
Yes and no. We do need better de-escalation training and if not breaking up cop unions, a better process to hold them accountable when people's civil liberties are violated. However, my contention is not that police should be defunded, but rather it should make up a smaller share of the pie of total government (local, state, and federal) funding. The solution is not "defund the police" per se, but rather to "invest more in our communities".
So many urban kids grow up with mental disorders from living in poverty or seeing gun violence at a young age, they grow up thinking it's normal. When you increase the after-school programs, strengthen the mental health network, give them a place to ball or study or just get away from their home for a few hours, you raise the community as a whole.
