tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post2033352281961256719..comments2024-03-28T17:55:31.180-04:00Comments on The Gossips of Rivertown: How Do We Sleep at Night?Carole Osterinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16010623982526286408noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-2728066412104481982012-06-27T10:55:10.749-04:002012-06-27T10:55:10.749-04:00Thanks for the clarification, Gossips.
In that ca...Thanks for the clarification, Gossips.<br /><br />In that case I recant all. (Not!)unheimlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00204285837938988668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-60800014800403481332012-06-27T10:46:38.822-04:002012-06-27T10:46:38.822-04:00Just a clarification, unheimlich. It's $1 mill...Just a clarification, unheimlich. It's $1 million over three years, not $1 million every year for three years.Carole Osterinkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16010623982526286408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-87500994606964725632012-06-27T10:33:32.714-04:002012-06-27T10:33:32.714-04:00A crime spreadsheet for 2011 is at least a step in...A crime spreadsheet for 2011 is at least a step in the right direction, but there is already Compstat, a system which detects patterns in crime in real time.<br /><br />Compstat software is used throughout the US, and is an important component of Wilson's and Kelling's "Broken Windows Theory" that so improved New York City under and since Giuliani's tenure.<br /><br />Another component of the theory, "reducing crime by building community assets" (quoted from the above post) is also encompassed by the Broken Windows Theory.<br /><br />So why does it take $3 million to reinvent the wheel?<br /><br />I may have an inkling. <br /><br />As with the "community assets" idea, the Broken Windows approach to crime works best when residents take an interest in their own neighborhoods.<br /><br />But where the Broken Windows idea specifically focuses on small crimes like littering and keeping neighborhoods clean and free of signs of disorder by pursuing infractions and then imposing penalties, the $3 million needed for the "neighborhood" study will invariably look for softer solutions.<br /><br />Judging by exactly half of the locations in the "Promise Neighborhood" meet-and-greet experiment held in the City of Hudson on May 25th, program aides were so naive about the neighborhoods they were serving that the presence of the program actually contributed to and fostered neighborhood disorder. <br /><br />When a police car drove by the group's Front Street location, the already disorderly crowd of rowdy youths erupted into a single shouting mob at the police. The table was unapproachable, and though I tried to catch an aide's attention from a short distance the scene which was created by their own failure (refusal?) to instill order proved too distracting for them to include anyone outside the rowdy group.<br /><br />When I phoned the program's sponsors at Catholic Charities to describe the menacing scene, I could sense the silent accusation that I was being racist (the predictable clap-trap of sociological excuse-makers).<br /><br />I suspect that that's what the $3 million grant will get you ... that, and one-year old statistics.<br /><br />Here's an idea: how about something more obvious that doesn't require so much study, something that works in real time and that imposes penalties for the kind of scene I observed on Front Street on May 25th? <br /><br />I reckon that "Broken Windows" is a different theory after all.unheimlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00204285837938988668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-32423260568162949252012-06-26T19:18:53.394-04:002012-06-26T19:18:53.394-04:00Yes sad to say the data from many years and many s...Yes sad to say the data from many years and many sources paints a picture of a deeply troubled place. The Comptroller of NY State placed Hudson at #1 of all New York State cities in "social stress". If the new Lords of Hudson, Galvan, have their way and create lots more infrastructure for homeless and troubled people, and the prisons don't close, then it's hard to see how Hudson will move meaningfully far forward. But it will still be a fun place to visit.Samuelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16548850334066788444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-70590278678950620842012-06-26T10:17:02.080-04:002012-06-26T10:17:02.080-04:00Sorry, Mr. M, to have left out that bit of informa...Sorry, Mr. M, to have left out that bit of information. The statistics are from 2011.Carole Osterinkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16010623982526286408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-14653969887186316042012-06-26T09:53:49.793-04:002012-06-26T09:53:49.793-04:00Carole, did she say in which year the crimes occur...Carole, did she say in which year the crimes occurred?Kevin Hannanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08098270042784185001noreply@blogger.com