A Study in Crime Strategeries?

From a virtually crimeless area of Idaho we here the following:

Greenleaf, Idaho -- All Americans have the right to bear arms. Some towns have even gone as far as to require each household to have a gun. Now a small Idaho town is contemplating a similar idea-- it's called the Civil Emergencies Ordinance. And although gun ownership is just one piece of this ordinance, it's the part that's getting the most attention.

"We've blessed to be a fairly rural area of the state, so we don't have a lot of crime and I think we'd like to keep it that way," said Lee Belt, Greenleaf city clerk.

Drive about 10 minutes west of Caldwell and you'll run into Greenleaf, Idaho, population 860. If city council member Steve Jett has his way, each head of household that can legally own a gun, will. Along with that they're encouraged to have ammunition and appropriate training.

"I think the city council is hoping it will happen and that it will be a deterrent to crime as the city and region increases in population," said Belt.

The proposed ordinance is modeled after a similar plan that went into place in 1982 in Kennesaw, Ga. In that instance there was a dramatic decrease in criminal activity. Although crime isn't a huge problem for residents of Greenleaf, the growth in neighboring counties leads them to believe they too are in for some changes.

"There's not a lot of crime here, but I think it's coming, it's getting worse everyday," said Art Bailey, owner of the Greenleaf Store.

The full story is here

Meanwhile, back in Gotham city crime is number 1 and the solution in this "gang war" is ... MENTORING.

From todays CA here are some interesting quotes:
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City's 2nd in violent crime

D.A. cites gang 'war' in grim national stats
By Yolanda Jones
Contact
September 22, 2006

Memphis and its surrounding counties ranked second in the nation for violent crimes committed last year, according to the FBI's annual report on crime released this week. The 2005 data shows the Memphis metro area had 1,197 violent crimes per 100,000 residents last year. That's up slightly from 1,132 in 2004.

"This is a serious situation that must be met dead-on with urgency," Gibbons said.

"The gangs are targeting Hispanic residents in robberies and the homicides increased because of warfare between gangs. We've seen a crumbling of gang structure and a lot of jockeying for power and as a result people, innocent people, are getting caught in the crossfire -- including children," he said.

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Now, if you were in a WAR, would your strategy be to ask for volunteers to mentor kids from dysfunctional homes? Or would you ramp up on putting thugs in prison?