About The Hardline
2009
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EmailBy now you have heard about the case of the horrific serial murders of black women on Cleveland's East Side and wonder how it could happen. How could bodies be sitting up rotting in somebody's house, stinking up an entire neighborhood, and nobody get to the bottom of it? How does a pervert move in next door and you have no clue? Is it about race or class?
Both.
I haven't been to the site, but I know the neighborhood well: my first apartment was about a mile from the house. I've driven through as recently as three weeks ago and have always known the area to smell funky, but didn't know what the eff it was. The neighborhood is ok for what it is, full of alot of aging home-owners, single mothers, their sons and boyfriends. It is working-class to retiree status: not dangerous if you know the area, but not the place you want to be walking around at night if you don't. What may make it different from where you live is the culture of poverty and the working poor. This is also the kind of neighborhood pocked by sex offenders who have nowhere to live after they do their time and decide to shacked up and mooch off relations. This was the life of alleged serial killer Anthony Sowell. He established a base of operations and quietly lured in his victims. Sowell lived among Strawberrys and other brands of crackfiends. The streets knew something of him, and the police did too. But it's an ugly truth that a dude using drugs and liqour to pick up women off the streets in the inner city simply is not that unusual. And a naked woman falling from a two story window trying to make an escape just gets sent back to her boyfriend, almost Jeffery Dahmer-stylee? Raping women in bushes, telling curious neighbors "It's cool." WTF? A dog doesn't deserve to live this way. To the cops, its just another day in the 'Hood.
By contrast, in the suburbs if a man sits at a stoplight too long leering at the co-eds, there is a description of him, his car and his political affiliation on the evening news. In the suburbs, if your dog drops a load and you go a day without attending it, you might be cited. Sowell could not have lived in Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights or Beachwood on the low because the authorities would have sent notices door to door alerting neighbors that a sex offender had moved in. Cleveland police says they doesn't have the resources to do that kind of thing. That's bullshit. I live in Cleveland, and I get notices. I know the sex offenders on my block by name and face. But then, I live in a stylish part of the city where gentrification is slowly weeding out the Have-Nots. I guess the ghetto is the only place where you can still get away with murder: where people can disappear right off the street and no one bats an eye. This kind of crime could not have happened in the suburbs.
Someone has some explaining to do.
Comments
You assume that I don't have first hand knowledge on the subject. That I get my info from the TV and talk radio. I would never excuse bad cops and most manage to go their entire careers without getting bitter and mean. But I still say that I never met one who chose the career so he or she could be a bully with a badge.
I won't bother to get into a debate with you because it's obvious you've already made up your mind on the subject. I will say however what I say often; it's easier both physically and metaphorically to point your finger at someone else than at yourself.
And my humble opinion comes with 30 years experience behind it
It's always easy to see all of the signs after the fact. In terms of serial killers, unfortunately they have existed in all types of communities: urban, suburban, rural, poor, etc. and we are always surprised how they go unnoticed after the fact.
As for the issue of police not having the resources to keep track of sexual predators, the reason is too people many people are thrown on those lists that shouldn't be there. Depending on the state in which you live, being a teenage male having sex with your teenage girlfriend can land you on the list; a teen girl sending nude pics of herself to her boyfriend can land her on the list, or even someone out drinking who decides to take a pizz in an alley can land on the list.
If we save the lists for people who are a danger to society, there would probably be 75% fewer people on them and therefore easier to track. Better yet, if someoen is considered such a danger to society just keep them in jail for life.
It may be your honest opinion but it is obviously an uninformed opinion. A few sensational new stories over the last 30 years does not sum up all police interraction with these communities. People like yourself who tend to view the world through your TV screens either don't understand that television news is entertainment or you are just too dense to realize there is more to the world than what you view on television or hear on talk radio.
The job of the police is to serve the public, they don't get to decide which members of the public they want to serve and protect and if they do not like the rules of the job like every other job they have the right to quit. I don't recall us ever conscripting police officers in this country.
As a person whose father and two uncles served as police officers I can tell you that many police forces have their supply of racist, brutal thugs on staff. So making excuses for poor police work is not going to change those facts.
Police officers operating correctly have nothing to fear of the citizens videotaping or witnessing what they do. Is that not part of the reason many patrol cars now have dashboard cameras. Being a police officer in any jurisdiction is a difficult job and that is why it is not for everyone. Individuals who have share your viewpoint should not be involved if you think so very little of the public. You can always become garbagemen, a job more in-line with your personal outlook.
Police are supposed to respond to every call for help and then get grief for violating someone's rights.
They respond to a call in the "ghetto" and the Monday Morning Quarterbacks have a field day.
Residents are afraid to walk the streets at night but have their video cameras on standby when the cops show up in case they get a chance to film another Rodney King incident.
Some crazy on crack who the residents avoid like the plague goes off and the cops have to whip his butt to control him and the screams of brutality, racism, etc. are deafening. I doubt that any one of the critics could (or would) be able to deal with being a cop for any length of time without becoming frustrated and/or angry.
Do any of you really believe that cops join the force to be brutal, racist thugs? I mean, is that the drive that puts them through all the training that is required to pin on the badge?
You say that's their job? That's what they get paid for? To respond to every call and handle every incident to the satisfaction of everyone involved? Then be whipped on, physically and emotionally? All that and not get bitter? None of the critics would be capable of that.
God forbid a cop does anything that the camera hogs (you all know their names) can get their teeth into. The parade of "experts" and their litany of "what should have been done" is never ending.
Oh well, they're just cops. If they don't like it they can quit huh? Maybe if they just all quit then things will be better for everyone. No more racist thugs with a badge. No more brutality. No more wondering when the cop will get there cause you'll know for sure they aren't coming. What a wonderful world that would be.
Just MHO
...between Sowell and Jeffrey Dahmer in my comments about these killings.
I also blame the cops. Tanya Carmichael's mother and daughter were laughed at and kept from filing a missing person report until they asked for a superior. I'm sure the other families were treated the same way. It didn't matter if some of these women were on drugs--and were strawberrys--the cops should have gotten suspicious when more and more of these street women disappeared.
I'm also reminded of the Jack the Ripper case...they were street women, too. And the killer knew the territory and all the women in it.
"This kind of crime could not have happened in the suburbs."
Simply isn't true. Remember John Wayne Gacy?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne_Gacy
Norwood Park isn't a ghetto. Its a middle class neighborhood.
well I live in a pretty decent neighborhood and I have no idea if there are any registered sex offenders living there...and there are two schools right down the street. As far as I know, the area I live in doesn't go around letting folks know if there are sex offenders living near by. I may need to just hit the website and take a look. The property manager and crew at my apartment complex are quick to let you know if any crimes have been committed (cars being broken into) or thwarted (peeping toms, etc.) in flyers they put on our doors.
This whole thing is just a shame. Just because you are poor doesn't make you any more expendable than the next person. Remember, God doesn't love a rich man anymore than a poor one.
It seems to be more a question of who is paying the salaries of the police officers, and the response of their superiors to complaints from people who are in a position to demand attention. Jaycee Dugard and her two children lived in tents in the backyard of that person whose name I always forget immediately, and his neighbors complained too. He was even a sex offender on parole, but the "right" people didn't complain, so it went on for years. Some of this is also the traditional role of the police to "keep a lid on it" and prevent the wrong people from getting out of control and bothering the "good people." Whenever I hear about horrendous crimes, I wonder how many times this person has committed a similar crime, but on someone no one cared about.
... is described as a "portion of a city in which members of a minority group live; especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure." Under this definition Sowell qualifies for his ghetto status.
It is only in America where the term ghetto and black are often transposed would anyone be surprised that a convicted sex offender would be living in there neighborhood. Afterall ghettos are where the larger society attempts to place the marginalized and hope they off themsleves or die from sheer despair and neglect. Go to any ghetto in america and you will find that they are more integrated than the wealthiest suburbs. Because everyone knows no one is in the ghetto by choice.
Plus I am not surprised that the authorities would not care to warn the residents that a sex offender was living in their midst. As far as they are concerned the junkies, hookers, gangbangers and petty thieves can take care of themselves and if not then well.
The shocking thing to me is why these things do not happen more often. Reminder of that idiot Cam'ron on Sixty Minutes noted that even if a serial killer lived next door to him, his street code would not allow him to snitch. I am sure some of Sowell neighbors shared that view also and the police probablaly saw it the same way.