Crime on the hill - Charles Allen has got to go

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He's the head of the safety committee, so no, people are not dumb for complaining about him specifically. He and his metrics approach are creating more violence, more victims and more to overcome for those he claims to care so much about

Are we to accept that his supporters want the violence?

[Anonymous]

Meanwhile a number of ODs and heart attacks this morning in SW due to a bad batch of fetynol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's about dehumanization. It's sociopathy. Incivility and violent crime share that common core and one can easily lead to the other.

I agree, but I also think it runs both ways. Black men in DC have been dehumanized by the system, as well as by their gentrifying white neighbors, for their entire lives. This is not an excuse but an explanation for how some of these men come to act. Poverty, limited educational options, the juvenile justice system (which takes angry young men and turns them into people with few choices outside criminal activity), racist economic policy, gentrification, etc. all combine to make these lives very hard to live. There are people who figure it out and rise above. But it isn't 100%, and some of those kids really never had a shot. I have spent some time with kids who are displaced do to domestic violence in DC, and I don't know what to tell you. There is nothing quite like talking to a 5 or 6 year old, who is every way just like every other 5 or 6 year old in the world, but who does not have a stable home, a consistent source of love and support, regular access to school, decent nutrition, opportunities to exercise, good examples for emotional regulation, and on and on. I grew up lacking a few of those things and while I'm not a criminal, there are times I really struggle. These kids don't have any of it. I know some of them grow up to commit the kinds of crimes that make our neighborhoods unsafe.

How do you help that 5 or 6 year old kid? You start by helping is parents. That means whatever you think of someone, you give them a hand because they have a child and you want to help the child. You have to address poverty, job access, housing. You need mental health services. You need healthcare. You need to stop using the police, the courts, and the jails to process every single thing that happens in these people's lives. They need some damn grace. They are people. They are human.

I detest violent crime and I am scared of what I see around this city right now. But you can't talk about the dehumanizing nature of crime without talking about the way we dehumanize so many people in this city every day and then expect them to turn around and live they way we want them to without a hand up.

It runs both ways.

Blaming violent, sociopathic behavior on "white gentrifying neighbors" (who would also be called racist if they LEFT the neighborhood because "white flight") is offensive. And yes, lots of children through no fault of their own end up in terrible situations with horrible families who neglect and abuse them. That's a tragedy. But we are talking about a pattern of crime in our city wherein young black men commit violent acts and are excused from the consequences of them -- and so, not surprisingly, go on to commit more violent acts. Why is it that so many liberals in this city are so condescending about black people? Do you not think they should be held responsible for their behavior? You treat even the adults among them like children, which is offensive and racist. If a white 24 year old defrauded a bunch of investors in a start-up I assume you wouldn't argue that he should be spared prison because his brain isn't developed until he's 26 or his parents neglected him. Why are you making that argument about a 24 year old thug who is shoving guns in the faces of law-abiding citizens and terrorizing neighborhoods?

And the notion that we should just throw money at this deeply entrenched cultural problem (a culture that glorifies violence and claims hard work and educational achievement are "acting white") is laughable. There are already tons of programs aimed at helping all of these men. Every summer DC spends money offering jobs to at -risk youth; schools have free after school programs; rec centers do as well. Some kids benefit from these, but other young adults choose not to. Instead, we're told it's just an unsolvable "systemic" issue and that we just have to endure the criminal behavior. Enough. DC residents should start fighting back like law abiding folks in Philadelphia have been recently. Protect yourselves. Because this city's leaders don't care about your safety, even as they waste your hard earned money.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Good old reliable Allen: plenty of PSAs for the addicts in the city to avoid that bad batch of fentanyl. Absolutely nothing to say to victims of violent crime.

[Anonymous]

And, more evidence for why coddling criminals just gets you more crime. . ..

https://twitter.com/Anc6B10/status/1487183909590867971?cxt=HHwWhoC57dz4xKMpAAAA

[Anonymous]

Would someone in Ward 6 please run against this cretin?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He's the head of the safety committee, so no, people are not dumb for complaining about him specifically. He and his metrics approach are creating more violence, more victims and more to overcome for those he claims to care so much about

Are we to accept that his supporters want the violence?

At this point, it's becoming difficult to claim they don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And, more evidence for why coddling criminals just gets you more crime. . ..

https://twitter.com/Anc6B10/status/1487183909590867971?cxt=HHwWhoC57dz4xKMpAAAA

It’s nice to finally see some attention directed at Karl Racine for the amount of unchecked violent crime being committed by juveniles.

[Anonymous]

I feel like I am getting a crime alert every hour at this point. This is ridiculous.

https://twitter.com/alanhenney/status/1487248121239379971?s=21

[Anonymous]

Violent assault https://twitter.com/alanhenney/status/1487263424799293442?s=21

And an armed robbery

https://twitter.com/alanhenney/status/1487261307153825803?s=21

At this point even I’m thinking about running against Allen.

[Anonymous]

Another car jacking: https://twitter.com/alanhenney/status/1487115105871478786?s=21

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Violent assault https://twitter.com/alanhenney/status/1487263424799293442?s=21

And an armed robbery

https://twitter.com/alanhenney/status/1487261307153825803?s=21

At this point even I’m thinking about running against Allen.

A lot of people would contribute from other wards to ANYONE who is the opposite of Allen. Hammurabi would amass a war chest at this point.

The loony crime policies of some of our DC Councilmembers don't just affect their wards. Apparently further softening of youth crime accountability is being pushed through by Allen. Silverman and their ilk RIGHT NOW for vote this spring.

[Anonymous]

I live in Hill East and I had to unfollow all those crime accounts. Not because I don't appreciate what they are doing but because my stress levels were through the roof and I just couldn't deal with it. I feel less safe now than when I moved to this area 15 years ago, even though I know the crime was worse back then. But it was a known quantity -- I knew I was moving to a rougher neighborhood and was prepared to handle it. It has gotten so much better for so long, and now I'm much older and a parent, and the seemingly random and aggressive nature of the current crime wave (and the fact that it's happening in the dead of a cold winter) is very unsettling to me.

We don't go out much anyway but this stuff has me nervous about something as simple as driving across the Hill to pick up takeout in the early evening. I think "is it worth it, should we just have it delivered?" None fo the crime has been directed at children, thankfully, but I still worry a lot about my kids being caught up in something.

I am very scared of what happens as the weather gets warmer and we experience the "normal" uptick in crime. This is not normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Hill East and I had to unfollow all those crime accounts. Not because I don't appreciate what they are doing but because my stress levels were through the roof and I just couldn't deal with it. I feel less safe now than when I moved to this area 15 years ago, even though I know the crime was worse back then. But it was a known quantity -- I knew I was moving to a rougher neighborhood and was prepared to handle it. It has gotten so much better for so long, and now I'm much older and a parent, and the seemingly random and aggressive nature of the current crime wave (and the fact that it's happening in the dead of a cold winter) is very unsettling to me.

We don't go out much anyway but this stuff has me nervous about something as simple as driving across the Hill to pick up takeout in the early evening. I think "is it worth it, should we just have it delivered?" None fo the crime has been directed at children, thankfully, but I still worry a lot about my kids being caught up in something.

I am very scared of what happens as the weather gets warmer and we experience the "normal" uptick in crime. This is not normal.

Actually children HAVE been victims of crime on the Hill: An 11 month old girl suffered a fractured eye bone and needed 19 stitches after some vile person attacked her and her father with a brick

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/crime/capitol-hill-assault-brick-crime-dc/65-6e0e3097-8619-4975-9043-cf00f421f4f2