The Rage Thing

In the February 12, 2006 New York Times, Kate Zernike examines violent crime rates nationwide in "Violent Crime Rising Sharply in Some Cities."

(Excerpts)

While violent crime has been at historic lows nationwide and in cities like New York, Miami and Los Angeles, it is rising sharply here and in many other places across the country.

And while such crime in the 1990's was characterized by battles over gangs and drug turf, the police say the current rise in homicides has been set off by something more bewildering: petty disputes that hardly seem the stuff of fistfights, much less gunfire or stabbings.

Suspects tell the police they killed someone who "disrespected" them or a family member, or someone who was "mean mugging" them, which the police loosely translate as giving a dirty look. And more weapons are on the streets, giving people a way to act on their anger.

Police Chief Nannette H. Hegerty of Milwaukee calls it "the rage thing."

"We're seeing a very angry population, and they don't go to fists anymore, they go right to guns," she said. "A police department can have an effect on drugs or gangs. But two people arguing in a home, how does the police department go in and stop that?"

Here in Milwaukee, where homicides jumped from 88 in 2004 to 122 last year, the number classified as arguments rose to 45 from 17, making up by far the largest category of killings, as gang and drug murders declined.

...The neighborhoods with the most murders tend to be the poorest. In Milwaukee, Mallory O'Brien, an epidemiologist brought in to direct the new homicide review commission, said suspects and victims tend to have been born to teenage mothers. The city has one of the nation's highest teen pregnancy rates for blacks, and among black men, one of the lowest high school graduation rates. An industrial base that used to provide jobs for those without a high school diploma has shrunk.

...Here in Milwaukee, the police are tagging "M.V.P.'s," or major violent players — people with several arrests, who are more likely to be involved in arguments and homicides, according to Ms. O'Brien's analysis. Those names are announced at daily police briefings.

The city has also put prosecutors and probation and parole officers on patrol with police officers, because they have more immediate power to rein in chronic offenders by enforcing curfew, nuisance laws, and restrictions against alcohol or drug use and association with gang members.

The homicide review commission has frequent, formal meetings with corrections officers, prosecutors and social service agencies to identify problem families, and is meeting with schools to assess what they are teaching about conflict resolution and how to reduce truancy.

Conflict resolution???

How about giving the children the skills they need to hold well-paying jobs?

Next month, police officials say, they will have the first of several town hall meetings with the neighborhoods with the highest homicide rates, to get residents' ideas on how to stop the killings.

"We didn't get here in a day," said Ms. O'Brien, the epidemiologist. "There's no simple solution."

A main point in the article is the connection between violence and an increase in the amount of guns on the street. That's to be expected from the lib Times. Gun control is always an answer for the libs.

However, that explanation, more guns, is inadequate to me. Zernike's story focuses on the element of rage. Less guns wouldn't address the rage factor. The people are rage-filled, not the inanimate objects.

I wonder if Zernike is aware of the story of the beating death of 36-year-old Charlie Young, Jr.

The group of Milwaukee youths that murdered him wielded bats, shovels, a tree limb and a baby stroller. Stricter gun control wouldn't have saved Young.

Here's an idea on how to quell "the rage thing" in Milwaukee:

EDUCATION


According to Zernike, "The city has one of the nation's highest teen pregnancy rates for blacks, and among black men, one of the lowest high school graduation rates. An industrial base that used to provide jobs for those without a high school diploma has shrunk."

The way I see it, there's no question that better education would significantly decrease the violent crime problem in the city.

BUT--

Wisconsin has a Dem governor that is doing all that he can to undercut Milwaukee's school choice program.

Naturally, Governor Jim Doyle is in the pocket of the teachers' union, being the good little Dem that he is. The powerful union pulls the strings and he abides.

So, instead of providing inner city children with an opportunity to get a decent education, a pass out of poverty, he is poised to pull up to 4000 Milwaukee children out of the private schools that they are presently attending through the school choice program.

Satisfying the union is what matters to Doyle, not giving a better quality of life to Wisconsinites.

Following in the footsteps of other Dem executives, Governor Jim Doyle is blocking the schoolhouse door. Meanwhile, Milwaukee Police Chief Hegerty can't figure out how to get "the rage thing" under control.

With the violent crime rate in Milwaukee exploding, you'd think officials would want to make school choice available to more children, rather than keeping quality education out of reach from families that only want the best for their kids.

I can't think of anything more empowering than education, yet the clueless Milwaukee officials believe that expanding police patrols and town hall meetings are the answer to the skyrocketing violent crime rate.

Wisconsin has a successful school choice program in place. It gives at-risk children an opportunity to have a promising future. A good education translates into more and better employment options. Success and satisfaction in the workplace would go a long way in reducing "the rage thing."

Education is a pass out of poverty.

Unfortunately, Dem Governor Jim Doyle and Dem Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett are too weak and wobbly to stand up to the teachers' union. They are not acting as advocates for the children that want a way out. They are standing in their way.

I'm not suggesting that maintaining or expanding school choice in Milwaukee would solve all the violent crime problems in the city.

It's no quick fix. It will take time for the children currently benefiting from the program to grow up and take their places in society as productive, law-abiding citizens.

Breaking out of the institutionalized Culture of Poverty won't happen overnight.

In her article for the New York Times, it seems odd that Zernike makes no mention of the role that meaningful education (not conflict resolution exercises) could play in pacifying "the rage thing," nor does she mention the Dems that have organized to keep quality education out of reach for inner city youth. Apparently, Zernike is as short-sighted as the Dems.

Immediate action is important in dealing with the increase in crime. There needs to be some short term measures taken to address the violence.

Education is a long term solution to the problems of violent crime in cities like Milwaukee. Although it will take longer to see the results of education than such tactics as police "tagging 'M.V.P.'s,' or major violent players," I have no doubt that education is a necessary part of the solution -- no doubt whatsoever.

It's too bad that Wisconsin Governor Doyle and Milwaukee Mayor Barrett cater to the anti-choice teacher's union.

In a real sense, these elected officials are indirectly part of the violent crime problem, because they certainly aren't part of the solution.