327
by ChrisDecember 31st, 2004 7:45 am
That would be the number of people murdered in Philadelphia so far this year. There will probably be one or two more by the time the clock strikes midnight, setting the counter back to zero, however briefly. That’s an astonishing total isn’t it? Considering years past, when the number was routinely well over four hundred, it’s not actually all that many for this town. Three hundred twenty seven homicides and Philadelphia isn’t even all that violent when compared to other U.S. cities. What a fine distinction that one is.
It amazes me to hear that news commentators have compared the level of violence in Iraq to domestic crime and homicide rates. The fact that they can even make a comparison between America’s cities and a war, however ugly and misguided that comparison may be, tells me that we are seriously deranged, and have been for so long, that we can’t even see it. Can you imagine getting on TV and saying that the casualties of major war really aren’t so bad because they compare quite favorably with the death and destruction occurring in our own cities and towns? Good lord!
When we discuss murder in the United States, we to often focus solely on the issues of law enforcement and gun policy, to little avail. While these are both issues that do need to be addressed, they scratch at the surface of the problem. If we are to have any hope of ever crawling our way out of this disaster, fundamental problems with our education policy, narcotics policy and mental health policy will all need to be addressed seriously.
In a country that wasn’t half off its nut, the blood bath would matter.
December 31st, 2004 at 11:03 am
Not to compare real life to a TV show, but there was a scene this season on “The Wire” on HBO where the district commander was screaming at his underlings that the crime rates in their Baltimore district were too high.
He made a comment that if Baltimore had the population of New York, their homicide rate would be something like 4000 a year. The numbers are just mind boggling.
Obviously we live fairly close to each other and Center City is pretty safe (except for that horrible incident outside the Wholefoods market) but the line between a safe neighborhood and a dangerous one isn’t all that much down here.
But, if John Street has his way, you’ll still have to worry about getting murdered but you won’t have to worry about second hand smoke killing you. (Sorry about the off-topic shot at our mayor, but i bartend a night or two a week to make extra money, and even though proponents of anti-smoking bans say it won’t hurt bar business, i don’t know how it can’t).