Gee, Here's a Novel Idea

I know, what if we were to go after the repeat offenders? Do you think that would make our crime rate go down? Duh! It seems the problems in Baltimore were so bad, they finally decided to concentrate on the repeaters and guess what, it has had an immediate impact.

If you think it's bad in Memphis, it's twice as bad in Baltimore - for murders. Baltimore has a population of around 630,000 and Memphis is 645,978 according to the US Census data, but Baltimore has had 280 homicides this year compared to Memphis' 160 (29 of which were not murders, but justifiable homicides). Can you say, "desperate times, call for desperate measures?"

Here's a clip from today's CA on the subject:

Earlier this year, Baltimore was headed for its bloodiest year in nearly a decade. But the bloodletting eased up after a new police commissioner took office.

The bloodshed in Baltimore is blamed on entrenched poverty, widespread drug addiction, failing schools and easy access to guns.

Through Dec. 26, there were 280 homicides in Baltimore -- four more than in all of 2006. Things looked even grimmer in mid-July, the day Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm resigned. At that point, Baltimore had 178 homicides, putting it on pace for a total of 325. The city has not topped 300 since 1999.

The new police commissioner, Frederick Bealefeld III, and Mayor Sheila Dixon have gone after repeat violent offenders more aggressively, flooded high-crime zones with officers, and revived a unit that traces illegal guns. Also, repeat gun offenders are being sent more frequently to the federal court system, where they face stiffer sentences.

In Memphis, Blue Crush is doing a lot of that, and we are ramping up to deal with the constant repeat offenders over the next year. I guess it would only be fair to give the thugs fair warning - we will be watching you! Now, if we can just get the legislature to pass some better legislation to deal with these terrorists!

I encourage anyone and everyone to send an email to your legislators requesting this legislation. As a matter of fact, I've created a web page that will let you do just that, with just a few clicks.