L.A. Parker on urgency

L.A. Parker writes in Saturday's Trentonian about why there is not a bigger sense of urgency in addressing the city's problems.
Here's a taste:
"Missing but crucial agendas in the City of Trenton are a sense of urgencyand unflappable honesty.
"Does anyone else see the garbage pigeonholed on South Broad Street?
"Why do teachers outnumber parents at "Back to School Night?"
"Should not education be the one goal that we push our children towardwhether the classroom offers standard or vocational studies?
"It's almost as if our houses are ablaze and we choose to extinguish theflames with saliva rather than break out the heavy hoses.
"That stuff hitting the fan right now is anything but spit; we are engaged ina great civil war regarding education, violence, guns, gangs, homelessness, abandoned houses and a litany of other issues.
"Some issues need time for solutions, but for others the time for action is now."

Gangs: The Wal-Mart solution

Since we poked fun of Ewing Mayor Jack Ball's comment that building a new Wal-Mart could solve the area's gang problem, he's been mercilessly skewered by Trentonian Back Talk callers.

Today, Back Talk printed his response.

Wal-Mart and gangs ... huh?

The 2007 award for most obscure parallel between two completely unrelated political issues goes to ... Ewing Mayor Jack Ball.

In commenting for today's Trentonian story about the proposed Wal-Mart in Lawrence, the mayor listed one possible benefit of Wal-Mart's arrival as, get this, fighting gangs.

What's Wal-Mart's connection to gangs, other than providing another outlet for the purchase of cheap firearms?

Mayor Ball sees Wal-Mart bringing more jobs to the community, and if there are more jobs available, maybe young people will be less likely to join gangs.

Hey, it makes sense. What prospective gang-banging, bling-flashing drug dealer wouldn't exchange that lifestyle for a $7 an hour job greeting Wal-Mart customers?

The war on gangs

A huge percentage of the crime news we write about in the Trenton area is connected to gangs or involves gang members.

Several stories over the past few days offer a perspective on the local and national effort to put a dent in this problem. None of it leaves us encouraged.

- A Trenton Blood was sentenced last week after unsuccessfully arguing that he suffered from something called "Battered Gangster Syndrome," and that's why he shouldn't be held responsible for taking part in the firebombing of a house that left a man and his two young daughters murdered. For those who've argued recently that putting gang crimes on the front page of The Trentonian glorifies these thugs and helps them recruit, hopefully Saturday's headline, "See You in 2037," is a clear enough message to young gangster wannabes. Do the crime and you'll be doing lots of time.

- A story out of Newark details how difficult it is for law enforcement to make a case against gangs, as gang members and people in the community fear being branded as a "snitch."

- And finally, in other parts of the country, small cities facing gang problems similar to Trenton's are trying a new approach. They're suing.

You've been shot; what do you do next?

The latest "assault with a bullet" reported by Trenton police continues an interesting trend.

Why does your typical Trenton shooting victim call anyone and everyone EXCEPT THE POLICE?

The young man who was shot this morning in Trenton used his cell phone to call friends, who drove him to the hospital.

Why are shooting victims bypassing the police and ambulance services?

In this case, who knows. In previous cases, many of the city's shooting victims have been in trouble with the law themselves - including having warrants outstanding for their arrest.

Again, we don't know the details of this morning's incident. The victim could have been a random, innocent bystander.

More frequently, though, the shooter knows the victim, and both have been up to no good. It paints a picture of a lawless criminal crossfire that's playing out on Trenton's streets.

Meanwhile, Trenton police have released crime statistics for June. They're up slightly over the same month last year, but still down YTD. Read the full text of the report on our Web site.

L.A. Parker on urgency

L.A. Parker writes in Saturday's Trentonian about why there is not a bigger sense of urgency in addressing the city's problems.
Here's a taste:
"Missing but crucial agendas in the City of Trenton are a sense of urgencyand unflappable honesty.
"Does anyone else see the garbage pigeonholed on South Broad Street?
"Why do teachers outnumber parents at "Back to School Night?"
"Should not education be the one goal that we push our children towardwhether the classroom offers standard or vocational studies?
"It's almost as if our houses are ablaze and we choose to extinguish theflames with saliva rather than break out the heavy hoses.
"That stuff hitting the fan right now is anything but spit; we are engaged ina great civil war regarding education, violence, guns, gangs, homelessness, abandoned houses and a litany of other issues.
"Some issues need time for solutions, but for others the time for action is now."

Gangs: The Wal-Mart solution

Since we poked fun of Ewing Mayor Jack Ball's comment that building a new Wal-Mart could solve the area's gang problem, he's been mercilessly skewered by Trentonian Back Talk callers.

Today, Back Talk printed his response.

Wal-Mart and gangs ... huh?

The 2007 award for most obscure parallel between two completely unrelated political issues goes to ... Ewing Mayor Jack Ball.

In commenting for today's Trentonian story about the proposed Wal-Mart in Lawrence, the mayor listed one possible benefit of Wal-Mart's arrival as, get this, fighting gangs.

What's Wal-Mart's connection to gangs, other than providing another outlet for the purchase of cheap firearms?

Mayor Ball sees Wal-Mart bringing more jobs to the community, and if there are more jobs available, maybe young people will be less likely to join gangs.

Hey, it makes sense. What prospective gang-banging, bling-flashing drug dealer wouldn't exchange that lifestyle for a $7 an hour job greeting Wal-Mart customers?

The war on gangs

A huge percentage of the crime news we write about in the Trenton area is connected to gangs or involves gang members.

Several stories over the past few days offer a perspective on the local and national effort to put a dent in this problem. None of it leaves us encouraged.

- A Trenton Blood was sentenced last week after unsuccessfully arguing that he suffered from something called "Battered Gangster Syndrome," and that's why he shouldn't be held responsible for taking part in the firebombing of a house that left a man and his two young daughters murdered. For those who've argued recently that putting gang crimes on the front page of The Trentonian glorifies these thugs and helps them recruit, hopefully Saturday's headline, "See You in 2037," is a clear enough message to young gangster wannabes. Do the crime and you'll be doing lots of time.

- A story out of Newark details how difficult it is for law enforcement to make a case against gangs, as gang members and people in the community fear being branded as a "snitch."

- And finally, in other parts of the country, small cities facing gang problems similar to Trenton's are trying a new approach. They're suing.

You've been shot; what do you do next?

The latest "assault with a bullet" reported by Trenton police continues an interesting trend.

Why does your typical Trenton shooting victim call anyone and everyone EXCEPT THE POLICE?

The young man who was shot this morning in Trenton used his cell phone to call friends, who drove him to the hospital.

Why are shooting victims bypassing the police and ambulance services?

In this case, who knows. In previous cases, many of the city's shooting victims have been in trouble with the law themselves - including having warrants outstanding for their arrest.

Again, we don't know the details of this morning's incident. The victim could have been a random, innocent bystander.

More frequently, though, the shooter knows the victim, and both have been up to no good. It paints a picture of a lawless criminal crossfire that's playing out on Trenton's streets.

Meanwhile, Trenton police have released crime statistics for June. They're up slightly over the same month last year, but still down YTD. Read the full text of the report on our Web site.