If you haven't read the editorial, you can do so by clicking here. Of particular note, are the last two paragraphs in the editorial:
The greatest threat to the District -- besides the shootings, robberies and assaults -- is the possibility of the city's civic leadership becoming inured to crime and violence; that they will grow accustomed to accounts of weekend murders and begin to accept death on D.C. streets as undesirable but inevitable. Let it come to that, and general lawlessness and a meltdown in community values will not be far behind.
Chief Ramsey should be commended for the action he has taken. "We have to keep the streets safe," he told The Post's Del Quentin Wilber. Citing the four people who were killed in apparently unrelated incidents within six hours of one another, the chief said, "These are the kinds of things that spread fear and panic in the community." Chief Ramsey sees the emergency.
When will the official inhabitants of city hall and the District's civic community open their eyes?
Logan Circle mobilized in the face of crime - remember the timeline:
- The LCCA presented to the ANC on behalf of N Street residents to deter crime in our neigborhood.
- When Operation Fight Back was cancelled, the LCCA began a furious letter writing campaign to the Commander, copying in our Councilmember.
- Members of the LCCA and the ANC mobilized to confront Chief Ramsey at his press conference at the Reeves Center.
- This blog was created for the neighborhood.
- The ANC established a Crime and Public Safety Committee.
- The LCCA will be hosting the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice, Chief Ramsey, and Michael Latessa, Director of the Office of Unified Communications at their next membership meeting in January to follow up with neighborhood concerns.
If you have a response to the Post's Omsbudmsan, Michael Geller, be sure to submit it. Logan Circle's civic community is NOT inured by crime and violence - we are the force deterring it.
1 comment:
Although I agree that the Logan Circle community has done a great job of addressing the crime issue I want to remind everyone that many people in the neighborhood actually voiced complaints about the attention we were drawing to our neighborhood. I specifically remember two comments. One about negative publicity being bad for business and the other questioning what this type of publicity would do to our real estate values.
Many of the people that made those comments have now jumped on the bandwagon but I can only imagine that those attitudes also exist in other parts of the city. Not only are people apathetic but many would rather pretend that everything is just fine… I read the editorial referenced above and other than wishing the person that wrote it had recognized neighborhoods like Logan Circle for their efforts I do not see a problem with the content.
-Haychel
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