I hate the city's current crime wave. If there was one image that tore me up this morning, it was a small picture of D.J. Spady, the 16-year-old brother of murder victim Damon Hugly. That poor kid looks a lot younger than 16.
But I equally hate the cheap analogy that 235 murders makes Philadelphia "a war zone." Or, more specifically, Iraq.
If you watched the CBS Evening News last night, you probably heard that comparison floating around Katie Couric's first report on gun violence, which was set, goody for us, in our fair city. The "Iraq" comparison wasn't explicit on air. But, if you want to see what reporter Byron Pitts really thinks about Philly, check out his blog post on cbsnews.com:
Too often people have thrown around phrases and words like “war zone” and “battlefield.” I’ve seen war up close and there is no mistaking what’s going on in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. War zones have a certain look. A certain feel. There’s even a smell to it.
After spending several days in Philadelphia, I must admit there are striking similarities.
Just like in Baghdad, there are law-abiding citizens who are afraid to go outside at night or even venture too far away from their front door in the daytime. Just like Baghdad, there are law-abiding citizens whom we met that keep a gun close by when they take their children to school, go to the grocery store and when they close their eyes at night in their own bed. In Philadelphia they’re not called "insurgents"; they’re drug dealers and thugs.
OK, that's too much.
I'm not going to waste time showing that a U.S. city grappling with a violent crime wave is not the same as a foreign capital that is caught in the throes of civil war and under the gun of an occupying army. I'm also not going to compare body counts.
I'm just going to say that comparing what we are dealing with to war makes it sound like our crime wave is something that local leadership can't possibly deal with, and that's just not true.
If you'd like to spend two minutes thinking about what local leadership CAN do about crime, an excellent place to start is with the Next Mayor Issues Forum on crime. For example, we have 185 cases per probation officer in Philly. The guideline is 50 cases per officer, says Larry Sherman, the U Penn crime expert. How about we fix that?
If we do say so ourselves, those Issues Forums are really good summations of the leading thinking on issues facing our city. And they look great on an iPod. Go subscribe or simply watch...
Comments (30)
Like it or not. We are in a war zone. The enemy isn't wearing a qualifying uniform the enemy is carrying qualifying weapons.
Ever heard the expression from " Nam " vets. Leave one war to come home to fight another war.
Gather up some Iraq and Afghanistan vets from Philly and ask them about this area of study.
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