This is part three taken from my own blog written on November 21st. Despite being a few months old, everything still rings true. You can read the original here: http://markskull.blogspot.com/2007/11/civil-rights-and-possible-crime_19.html

I was going to post this yesterday, but I've been sick for a bit and it came to a head yesterday.

We've discussed the basic civil rights questions, and asked how long this Crime Emergency could last.

We've discussed the new Police Commissioner, his background in the issue, and and his impact on Crime.

Today, we're going to tackle a few things.

• Guns
• The impact Ramsey had in Washington D.C. (Part 2)
• What all of this boils down to.

So to start things off, we can kill two birds with one stone and discuss Ramsey, D.C., and Guns at once. Why? Because in case you didn't know, handguns have been banned in Washington D.C. for 31 years. OK, let's think about this: Despite BANNING HANDGUNS in Washington D.C., they still had ONE OF THE HIGHEST MURDER RATES IN AMERICA. So all that talk about "banning guns solve everything" is true, right? Ramsey's impact to lower the murder rate 50% during his time there must deal with simple enforcement of existing laws.

On that note, Mayor... sorry, Governor Ed Rendell (He'll be mayor in my heart!) talked to the State Legislators yesterday to try and create three new laws; One to limit gun purchases to one a month, another that would allow every city to create their own gun laws, and one more that would make it mandatory to report any lost or stolen gun.

At first, I did agree with "One Gun a Month", but then again, I live in a major city. I was contacted by someone in Western PA who said, very simply, "The law would effect legitimate collectors and recreational hunters." As someone who collects swords and daggers myself, I understood what he meant.

The second, allowing cities to make their own gun laws, does sound fairly reasonable. In the same vein that this nation allows states to make their own laws, it seems fair to let cities make their own laws. The last measure, to create a law to report a stolen gun, is sheer common sense.

The first two were shot down, and the last measure has been tabled.

During my campaign, my entire gun legislation could be summed up into one sentence: No new gun laws, just enforce the ones we already have. Really simple stuff and doesn't as much time as making a new law. So, guns aside, what does all of this mean? In essence, this is what a Crime Emergency means:

1. A Suspension on Civil Rights

• The right to bare arms and defend yourself
• The right to freedom to protest
• the Pursuit of happiness

2. A "Code 10" Lasting as Long as they Want

• No time table needed, or given, for a Crime emergency
• No restrictions on what makes is necessary of when to end it

3. No Discussion on WHERE to implement it

• No ideas given to what "Crime-Ridden" area means.
• No idea if it will be "block-by-block", done based on Council District, or Police District

4. No Criteria given AT ALL

• The only criteria is that there is a large amount of crime

That's IT! Despite some 8 months to discuss and develop and present to the citizens of Philadelphia a full and concise plan on how, exactly he plans to implement his Crime Emergency Plan, NOTHING has been revealed other than he wants to declare one.

I have often referred to the War on Crime here in Philadelphia the same as the War on Terror the US has declared. In much the same way, we need to worry about just how we tackle this issue and what we have to do in order to make sure we not only do something positive, but we also make sure we don't do to much damage to ourselves in the process.

In much the same way that Bush declared a war on Terror, and used our fear of bad men to lure us into a feeling that we must abandon our rights to fight these bad men, Nutter has used the same exact tactic in order to lose our civil rights in Philadelphia. I will hold to him that this was not intentional; That the move was more to honestly protect the citizens of Philadelphia, something that I don't doubt for a second. But even the most well-intentioned person can make a mistake.

Which is EXACTLY what a Crime Emergency is; A MASSIVE mistake.

So, with all of my criticism, what do I propose? It's very simple and boils down to this:

1. Focus on Community Policing

Considering Ramsey has a history of actual using Community Policing, I think we need to focus on THAT more than a police state. What is Community Policing?

Community policing or neighborhood policing is a policing strategy and philosophy based on the notion that community interaction and support can help control crime, with community members helping to identify suspects, and bring problems to the attention of police.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_policing

On top of that, it also relies on you actually knowing who your police officers are and trust them. Something as simple as an officer in your community coming up to you one day and saying, "Hi, I'm Officer Bob. How are you doing? How's the family?" Very simple, everyday conversations can create more of a bond and trust in law enforcement than any camera can!

Look at New York City! There's a cop on almost every corner up there and their murder and crime rate has gone done drastically!

2. FOCUS ON MINOR CRIMES!
I can not stress enough how much this can help! Let's make this simple: Say there is a rather OK section of Philadelphia with a vacant lot. One day, a someone decides to start throw some trash on there. After a week, someone sees that some trash is building up on this lot and they start to throw more on there. In a month, theres a bit of trash there. After 2 months, someone starts dumping furniture on it. After 3 months, the entire neighborhood has taken a turn to the worst because this one lot has shown that the community doesn't care about what's going on around it. Enter the drug dealers.

OK, it's a bit drastic what I'm suggesting, but think about all the areas your afraid to go to yourself and how much trash is there. Maybe not trash; Graffiti, broken-down homes, etc...

If the police focused on targeting even small offenses, such as littering, graffiti, minor theft, jaywalking, all of a sudden you know that not only are the police there to be kind and friendly, but to enforce the law. If criminals learn that not only are the police involved with the community, but they're not taking any crap as well, you've successfully chipped away at the culture of crime that has been festering there.

3. Gun Law Enforcement
As I've said before, we're not enforcing our current gun laws. At the same time, when someone is caught, they're not getting enough jail time. We need to also make sure our police force focuses on making sure they do get illegal guns off the street. Part of my idea is to create a new police unit dedicated purely to this.

That's it. No civil rights violations, not a lot spent on extra man power, and if it proves successful, you can actually take down the cameras and sell them to recoup some money. I'm sure the citizens of Philadelphia would greatly accept this more than a "Code 10".

Considering that Michael Nutter is being sworn in tomorrow, and he promised to do this when he was sworn in, this is a VERY important thing to worry about, and the fact that not only is this topic being ignored but not even acknowledged, worries me. To that end, this may be my last post here because, quite frankly, this is something that was NEVER resolved. At the same end, it's hard to help people that seemingly don't want to help themselves. If he's abandoned this idea, all the better. Again, I welcome all comments and crits.