A Response to the Trinidad Neighborhood Security Policy
The crime rate in the District is terrifying, but what is truly staggering is the District’s most recent attempt to mitigate these crimes. The “Neighborhood Security Policy” is a euphemism for identifying high-crime areas, physically cornering them off from the rest of the District, and in essence, creating a ghetto.
The “Neighborhood Security Policy” is a euphemism for identifying high-crime areas, physically cornering them off from the rest of the District, and in essence, creating a ghetto. Instead of working with residents of the Trinidad neighborhood they merely set up a barricade; instead of inviting cooperation and collaboration they run the risk of inciting resentment and rebellion.
I realize that there are protestations to this policy from a legal standpoint. I don’t doubt the merit of those arguments, but let me be clear: mine is merely the position of a District resident who is ashamed to be part of a community that doesn’t look for creative solutions but adopts policies that are historically regressive and discriminatory.
I truly hope the Fenty Administration ceases the self-congratulatory back patting and sees this policy for what it is: an oppressive, hands-off approach that is the first step on a very slippery slope….
-Johanna Lister
Of course the mother of the last guy that was killed lives there and says she welcomes it.
And anyone who lives there, or is visiting there, is free to come and go as they please.
A creative solution is to allow DC residents to legally arm themselves.
June 10, 2008 at 4:14 pmOr how about anytime some wanna be thug under 18 commits a violent crime, the parents are fined heavily and restricted to work and home?
That’s creative, too.
June 10, 2008 at 4:20 pmwhat is a creative solution then? i certainly don’t agree that arming trinidad like the french resistance is a good idea…
the issue i’d really like to hear more about is what relationship the killings had to drugs. the police isolated a pretty small area of the city and turned away between 50 and 90% of the cars entering there (depending on accounts) screams of big time drug trafficking. (note also, the ACLU guy quoted apparently never bought drugs from an ice cream truck) if the police are trying to break up a violent drug zone, i think deterring customers is pretty creative as well
June 10, 2008 at 4:36 pm“mine is merely the position of a District resident who is ashamed to be part of a community that doesn’t look for creative solutions but adopts policies that are historically regressive and discriminatory.”
so what is your idea for a creative solution? i am not saying you’re wrong, but we have to offer an alternative solution when complaining about something we don’t like or we are just whiners.
June 10, 2008 at 4:44 pmBy definition, I think committing a violent crime makes you a bona fide thug…no longer a mere wanna-be.
To the larger issue, this is clearly a law enforcement experiment of last resorts, and of course, preferable to martial law. The program should be judged against a reduction in crimes, such as it is, versus increased civil liberties violations. The latter could be accomplished in a follow-up survey among the residents that likely will never be conducted.
June 10, 2008 at 4:58 pmeddie - exactly.
And frankly I don’t feel sorry for most of them. It’s their neighborhood, clean it the fuck up. Turn the thugs in. Drive out the drug dealers and the drug addicts. Other communities do it. Make your kids stay in school, keep track of them like a parent should. Other kids grow up and out of these shitty neighborhoods so there’s no excuse.
Because the rest of the District feels ashamed that many of them can’t get their shit straight when so many other people have done exactly that.
June 10, 2008 at 5:00 pmChairman meow - yes it does, and they should be treated as one, not as a “child” who made a mistake.
June 10, 2008 at 5:17 pmHey, bootstrap Mike! it may not be your neighborhood, but it’s your fucking city, so why don’t you get your righteous ass off the computer and clean it up yourself? Show them poor folk how it’s done! And since you feel qualified to tell others how to raise their children, feel free to drag your privileged litter with you.
June 10, 2008 at 5:40 pmI have really mixed feelings about this issue, but one thing to consider is that this may not be the moment for creative community involvement… that moment has passed, and will return again. But at this particular moment, when it has been so freakin’ hot outside and when the violence in that neighborhood has ERUPTED, rapid, extensive, and highly visible police response may be more appropriate.
Sure, anything that resembles steps towards a police state is a slippery slope… but failing to intervene in an explosive situation is equally slippery.
Sure, this plays into established historical inequalities and oppression… but arguing from a position of privilege about what is best is for another group also plays into those problems.
June 10, 2008 at 6:05 pmChairman Meow - I spent two years teaching kids in a school for court-appointed troubled kids who couldn’t be put in the normal school systems.
I think I’ve done a good deal, have you done anything?
If your kid is in jail, or throwing rocks at cyclists on 11th street, or mugging scooterists, or dealing drugs at school guess what, you fucking need someone to tell you how to raise your kids.
June 10, 2008 at 6:10 pmIn addition being poor is no fucking excuse. There are tens of thousands of poor kids from neighborhoods like this who never take the thug route. Suggesting it is a “poor” issue is a slap in the face to them. Fuck I was raised in a three room house heated with wood in the hick-fuck Georgia mountains by a single parent.
The problem is a society that doesn’t give a fuck and allows this shit to happen. If the adults in that neighborhood can police their own streets, then the police are going to do it in the most expedient way possible, yes, even if that means you have to show your license to drive to your house.
June 10, 2008 at 6:15 pmPolice presence is one thing. An active police presence in community affairs is another. While being a cop may be wicked dangerous, it’s still a job. And there are plenty of cops who hate their jobs like the rest of us. So it’s no surprise that there are so many police officers who will do the bare minimum in order to get by. In my opinion, these checkpoints are evidence of a law enforcement agency that genuinely does not understand what’s happening in these neighborhoods. The crime is legitimately two way. There are hoods causing problems, and there are cats from other parts of DC, VA and MD passing through as well.
June 10, 2008 at 7:01 pmPolice presence is one thing. An active police presence in community affairs is another. While being a cop may be wicked dangerous, it’s still a job. And there are plenty of cops who hate their jobs like the rest of us. So it’s no surprise that there are so many police officers who will do the bare minimum in order to get by. In my opinion, these checkpoints are evidence of a law enforcement agency that genuinely does not understand what’s happening in these neighborhoods. The crime is coming from inside as well as outside of Trinidad. And the idea of setting up a checkpoint is pretty shitty if you ask me. Some people will stay home, but the real enterprising hoods will find a way around it. That’s the American way.
June 10, 2008 at 7:02 pmon a completely unrelated note, that’s totes the late officer joe pozell as the icon for this article isn’t it?
June 10, 2008 at 7:35 pmJohanna, it is abundantly clear you don’t live in Trinidad, let alone anywhere near Trinidad. For if you did, you would be acutely aware of the facts surrounding the enforcement measures being put into place. I do realize that your post/article was more ventilation than a dissertation, but having a firm grasp of the issues would add significant substance/credibility to your heated remarks. I would be more than happy to expound offline (holla ge0rgetown @ yahoo dot com).
June 10, 2008 at 8:05 pmYeah I get it, you’re a burned out social worker after two entire years.
And I guess you want me to assume you’re one of those success stories from the inbred back-country, butcha know, what I’m reading sounds more like bitterness and corn pone bigotry. It appears like you have a ways to go yet.
I agree with brad that excessive heat makes everyone more aggressive.
June 10, 2008 at 8:46 pmslightly better commentary for those still interested …. any more links?
http://frozentropics.blogspot.com/2008/06/wp-police-close-streets-to-boost.html#comments
michael, you need to work on your people skills.
June 10, 2008 at 9:46 pmpatrick - “There are hoods causing problems, and there are cats from other parts of DC, VA and MD passing through as well.” i agree completely. that’s why they have checkpoints to keep unknowns out of the neighborhood.
“checkpoints are evidence of a law enforcement agency that genuinely does not understand what’s happening in these neighborhoods” what *is* happening? if you know what’s happening then it’s your civic duty to let the proper people know what the dilly is. you’d be helping lots of people out.
and yes, the local bad element will find a way around it, but it may cut down on at least a good portion of what’s going on now. i wouldn’t want that in my neighborhood (and, of course, on any other scale) permanently or in a perpetually, but right now the heat is on, so they are doing what curbs the pressure immediately. i can’t think of anything better to do *now*. are you saying you’re against it and if so, what is a better immediate solution for something that needs a band aid and needs it quickly?
the long term solution really is up to the people in the immediate community who should not tolerate it. not in their family nor on their streets. easier said than done, i know, but it’s been done.
dan! - i’m surprised you chastised michael when he wasn’t the one personally attacking anyone… *cough*chairman*cough*
chairman bark - nobody was personally attacking you. relax. take a nap. somewhere with a/c. oohmmmmmmm…
June 10, 2008 at 11:22 pmNo, meow, not burned out, not bigoted, but not a sensitive mass of jello afraid of offending people either. What were your solutions again? Were there any? Or were there just complaints and insults for the sake of complaints and insults - and completely reactionary off-base ones at that?
Thought so.
On the other hand, personally, although I had opinions, at the end of the day I could give a fuck about the neighborhood. As I already said, if it is so dangerous that the police have to block it off, then it is the neighbors in that neighborhood who have given up and failed. That’s on them.
June 11, 2008 at 4:30 amDan. Slightly better commentary? Which one of those morons offered the slightly better commentary? Was it the guy who said let them kill themselves all out? Or the person who said lock them up for every little crime? Or was it the idiot who said the DC thugs know how to get around the roadblocks - completely missing the point that it was the out of the area drug purchasers and bangers that were being stopped from cruising through?
Seriously, because there weren’t any comments worth reading over on that link where you compared them to us.
June 11, 2008 at 4:37 ambackground:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/04/AR2008060402205.html
how is success going to be measured? I’m sure crime levels will decrease for the five days the police are there, and for any subsequent days that the initiative is extended for, but so what?
if Lanier would say “we’re setting up checkpoints for the short term to stop the hemorrhaging, and then we’re doing X, Y, and Z to permanently reduce violent crime in this area”, I might be able to get behind an emergency measure that curtails civil liberties momentarily (MAYBE); but I cannot, cannot support an initiative that raises constitutional questions without addressing the issues in a comprehensive, long-term manner.
it also seems like from a PR standpoint, that if Lanier wants to engage in civil liberty curtailing, she should probably work WITH the community so her initiatives come across less as “police-state” and more as “police-involvement”. that would also probably make the initiative that much more effective…
June 11, 2008 at 7:04 amMy original post contained no complaints or insults, yours however contained nothing but. You see Mikey, passing moral judgment on a whole neighborhood of people, then saying you don’t give a fuck about them makes you sound stoopid and bigoted. Where in Georgia did you say you were from?
June 11, 2008 at 8:44 amBecca - agreed on all points, almost. I don’t think it is a Constitutional issue at all. I think it is a stop-gap emergency issue and I hope that there is a plan for police-involvement” after the fact.
But let’s face it: as many murders, not just robberies or drug-dealing, but murders, that have happened that just that one area in the past few weeks calls for some drastic fucking measures, and at last count, there haven’t been any during the lockdown - that’s peoples’ husbands, sons, brothers, sisters, etc, that are still alive. Now could it be a coincidence that the killing suddenly stopped right at the blocks were instituted? Oh sure, it’s a possibility, but it ain’t one I’d put a wager on.
Everyone knows the killings will start up unless there is some kind of involvement after the fact, but like a battlefield wound - you stuff that sucker with gauze, t-shirts, and whatever else is handy to stop the bleeding - and then you perform the clean-up surgery once the person is stable.
I can still see whiny-pants “activists” complaining if police do foot patrol the neighborhood (i.e. “Why do they patrol here? They don’t patrol anywhere else. This is against our rights!”) but hopefully something will be done.
Now I’m going back to not caring.
June 11, 2008 at 9:02 amMeow - none of your posts have contained much of anything at all.
Also, in English, if you say “my original post” and then say “yours however” that means my original post as well. It contained nothing but insults and complaints? Truly? Nah. You just can’t use the English language that well though you’re trying to masquerade as a wit by insinuating racism, and calling out bigotry, then, when discovering I have done my part, you attempt witticism again by using the tired cliche of the burned out social worker.
You’ve still done nothing to offer any solution. In fact your entire tenure in this thread has been attempting to belittle my posts, then even my background after I called your statement about “poor” people as fucking insulting, which it remains.
And before you criticize my “solutions” as they were, pay very close attention to language. Pay close attention to “a” versus “my” in my original post(s) that contained nothing but insults.
Finally, you can attempt to blame the system, or the government, or fuck, the architecture of the houses that trap heat and make people miserable and volatile, but at the end of the day rational human beings are responsible for their choices - whether that is to act like a thug, or to ignore thugs and do nothing to keep them out of your neighborhood, which means the only people to blame are the people in those neighborhoods.
Because, really, once you take away our personal responsibility what is left? Sit, Ubu, Sit. Good Dog.
June 11, 2008 at 9:13 amdon’t these poor people have party photographers to document their drug addictions?
June 11, 2008 at 10:04 amhahahahahahahaha
June 11, 2008 at 10:15 amamanda wins the internet.
June 11, 2008 at 10:23 am@Amanda
Well as a matter of fact …
uhhhh does this mean that i can’t get in to Jimmy Valentine’s to drink, or does that constitue as “official buisness” in the area?
June 11, 2008 at 10:59 amI had no problems getting to JVs on Saturday night by going from H St to Bladensburg Rd.
Hell I didn’t even see a cop out that way.
June 11, 2008 at 11:07 amHa! I spent two semesters teaching kids in a writing lab for struggling, barely literate college students who were having trouble forming sentences.
I think I’ve done a good deal with the English language, have you done anything? What silliness.
Anyone who’s taken a criminology class knows crime waves by definition ebb and flow, so with or without a police presence crime levels will eventually decrease–at least that’s the assumption. So with a police presence, the DCPD gets the credit when the crime levels drop. In this way, it’ll be very hard to measure whether this plan was effective or not, but one thing you can’t say is that the DCPD stood by and did nothing. As long as they don’t shoot anyone, it’s a certain win win for them.
June 11, 2008 at 11:49 am
You write, “in essence [these measures] will create a ghetto.”
Considering that trinidad is presently in sub-ghetto status, improving the neighborhood to merely “ghetto” would be a marked improvement. Fenty, keep up the good work.
June 10, 2008 at 4:13 pm