Discussion Forum 10: How Can We Organize Neighborhoods?
As we are learning about the criminogenic (causing crime) characteristics of neighborhoods, it is important to think about how we can overcome disorganization and organize the communities, instead. Read Starting with My Own Neighborhood: Johari James’ Vision of a Thriving Black & Brown Community
What else can we do to engage the members of impoverished communities to create social organization in neighborhoods? Look around The Laundromat Project, overall, for some other ideas.
Please leave at least three comments. One is your original contribution. And two comments are you replies to your classmates. Deadline: 11/06/22, 11:59 pm.
Short Assignment #1
N.Y. Man Is Accused of 3 Shootings, 2 Fatal, in 24-Hour Crime Spree
Sundance Oliver is charged with murder of 2 innocent people 21 year old Kevon Langston, and 17 year old Keyaira Rattray. He is also being charged with the murder of these two victims and also the attempted murder of a 96 year old bystander. These shootings happened in both Brooklyn and Manhattan for attempted robberies. It was found out that Sundance was already a convicted felon. The day after the shootings he turned himself in.
Taliban Bar Women From College Classes, in a Stark Reversal of Rights
Recently, the Afghan government has rebounded back to their restrictive stance on women’s rights. On Tuesday, women were stricken by a severe uphold in their rights as Afghan citizens by being restricted from attending private and public universities. Since the Taliban regime has taken over the Afghan government there is no sign that they have any intent on giving women their respective freedom. In recent weeks the new government reinstated the “Shariah law” which allows them to carry out public executions to anyone who violates their religious beliefs. With the new government in place, women cannot do anything in their society without being tortured or killed.
Latest on Idaho Killings: Police Looking for Driver of Car Seen Near Crime
Four Students were killed at the University of Idaho. In the house while they were murdered, the other two housemates were sound asleep and were not harmed. Police are nowhere near finding out the truth. They have interviewed many suspects, taken many photographs, and have got over five thousand tips. There are some suspicions about a white car with no license plate that was around the location of the incident on that date. Even if whoever was in that car wouldn’t have been responsible for the murder maybe they knew some information. Another thing that was suspicious was that one of the victims made many calls to a friend that night, and that friend did not pick up. Police have not found anyone who may have had a motive to kill.
In Capitol Attack, Over 900 People Have Been Criminally Charged
Over 900 people have been criminally charged making it the largest criminal investigation in department history and it is still growing as we speak. Most of the cases are petty offenses such as disorderly conduct. 280 people have been accused of assaulting or resisting police and around 100 of them are accused of assaulting cops with a dangerous or deadly weapon or inflicting bodily injuries to officers. 290 people have been charged with obstructing an official proceeding in front of Congress which is what the courts are using to describe how the mob has to disturb the certification of the election. Despite an appeal being made to toss the charges in all cases with the federal courts where the defense lawyer claims improper use.Out of the 40 defendants who have gone to trial, only one of them has managed to be fully acquitted of all charges Extremes still exist such as the longest sentence of 10 years given to a former NYPD officer who swung a metal flagpole at a Washington state officer during the riots.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/us/politics/jan-6-capitol-attack-charges.html
Short Assignment #3
The theory that I would choose to explain Tommy Shakur Ross’s involvement in gangs and crime would be the social disorganization theory. The social disorganization theory is the theory that individuals commit crimes based on their environments and the people that they are surrounded with. This theory goes against the theory that people are born with deviance and choose to commit crimes willingly. A factor of the social disorganization theory would be that there are not enough social interactions between people in these neighborhoods. This can cause them to turn their backs on each other because they won’t know or trust each other. Another factor could be poverty. When neighborhoods are more poor it can cause people to commit crimes like stealing for their necessities. Another factor could also be that if a neighborhood is already full of crime, more people will be influenced to do the same, increasing the amount of criminals. In the case of Tommy Shakur Ross, he did not feel like he belonged in the church where his father wanted him to be. When he joined a gang at 13 is when he finally felt like he belonged somewhere and felt proud of what he was doing. Even though he was involved in illegal activities, the other gang members would be proud of him too, causing him to commit more crime. The people around him were committing crimes so he did too. This shows how the social disorganization theory ties into this cause because Tommy was influenced by his environment and the disorganization in his neighborhood and life.
Assignment #4
I don’t believe bannaning traffic will help us to get a safe ride in NYC like other states because NYC has a lot of cars and too much traffic also at the same time everyday increases the violation. I want to share one of my experiences of having a law that helps us to be more safe everyday in Philadelphia. There is no law if your car doesn’t have a headlight on in front it can cause a serious accident which we never know how big it could be at night. Without a headlight it is not possible for a person to see clearly at night. There are many laws that go against my opinion. If there is no police for checking then there will be more crimes because we never know who will carry a gun inside of their car. People can drive who don’t even have a license and could make other people’s lives dangerous.
Short Assignment 4
I do believe that banning traffic stops in places like Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Seattle,etc will bring positive changes to the justice system and the affected communities. This is because most of the time these traffic stops are because of cops racially profiling so it usually affects people of color. According to The New York Time’s article “Cities Try to Turn the Tide on Police Traffic Stops” it says “Officials pushing the new rules cite data showing that minor stops not only disproportionately snare Black drivers but also do little to combat serious crime or improve public safety, and some escalate into avoidable violence, even killing officers or drivers”. There are other worst crimes going on in these cities, but instead these police officers are stopping these cars for minor things. Usually they are looking for something more like drugs, or a weapon, and most of the time there is nothing found. A lot of the times these people of color end up hurt or killed by the police. The Article says ““There is a trust factor,” Mayor Andy Schor of Lansing said in an interview last month, “that if you get pulled over — whether it’s a moving violation, or pretextual, or whatever — you’re not going to end up dead.”. This shows that people who get pulled over don’t have the certainty that something bad won’t happen to them. I believe that if there starts to be little to no traffic stops, then it can stop some of the endless racial profiling and violence towards these affected communities.
Short Assignment #4
I do believe that banning traffic stops will bring positive changes to justice due to the fact that police may stop people on their way to work can it can create frustration for people on their way to work that don’t seem to be a threat to their job or community they drive through, many people go through stop and frisks already and already dealing with it in their car on their way to some place can seem like an issue. Even though it’s a smart thing to stop someone during a traffic stop and search if they have any weapons, it can seem repetitive to stop plenty of cars when they could possibility have nothing, it just shows how much the police want to be sure nothing happens, but for me, I do think banning traffic stops can be a good thing but also a small bad thing if the person plans to commit a crime with something bad in their car.
assignment 4
Traffic stops don’t accomplish their task of deterring unsafe driving. I know multiple people who have gotten stopped because of tinted windows, or because of the type of car they were driving in certain neighborhoods. Theres a lot of racial profiling that happens when a traffic stop is made. According to The Guardian US police have killed nearly 600 people in traffic stops. Its safe to say that traffic stops don’t deter unsafe driving. I don’t believe completely banning traffic stops is the answer either I believe they just need better protocol, and when to actually make traffic stops.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/21/us-police-violence-traffic-stop-data
Short Assignment #4
Do you think we must rethink how we enforce traffic laws in cities and suburbs? Do traffic stops accomplish their task of deterring unsafe driving?
It would be effective to rethink how traffic laws should be enforced in the cities and suburbs because present efforts are not effects for protecting pedestrians and drivers. In addition, current traffic laws increase traffic and often, frustration. As the New York Times article mentions, Black drivers are more likely to get pulled over than White drivers, which means that the use of traffic stops to administer justice is an unfair process. There should be an improved focus on equity and protection for the whole community. If there is risk of the police action causing any harm and if not taking action will not cause significant harm, it would be better for the police to not act.
Do you believe banning traffic stops like in Philadephia, Los Angeles, Seattle, etc, will bring positive changes to the justice system and the affected communities? Write your thoughts on this question.
The ramifications of banning traffic stops are unknown and seems risky as a result, but it is worth a try. The current approach of traffic stops slows down traffic, causes people to learn where the stops are and avert them, and results in members of minority groups disproportionately held responsible for some type of crime in a manner that is reminiscent of stop and frisk. I think that the fact that Los Angeles has banned traffic stops is a good idea for this particular city because the police force likely spent a lot of human and financial resources on these efforts when they might be better spent performing other tasks to help the community. Given the presence of cultural differences between the cities that might implement the traffic stop bans, it is possible that the bans will be effective in some states and not others. It would be necessary for each state to launch a related program to determine if this approach could be a success, starting first at the local level. For example, bans could be tried in Albany, NY before New York, NY, which has a much denser population.
Assignment #3 Ear Hustle
Social disorganization theory is a developed by Chicago School, the theory states that a broken society which is ineffective of social control results in a malfunctioning integration of groups. This was the case for Tommy Shakur Ross, he lived in a broken community and was surrounded by gangs and crime his entire life. After an incident where Ross was approached by a gang member and asked where he was from (which is a way to intimidate someone). Ross felt like he needed to be part of a gang to be able to survive in this society. Ross then began to affiliate himself with a gang member in order to be recruited into the “Eight Trey Gang”. Ross would take part in crime activity such as grand theft auto and assault. Ross did not only felt like that this was a way to survive but he also was ambitious to be glorified as a gangster also known as “ghetto fame”. One day on September 2 of 1985, Ross shot and killed a rival gang member. This man was called Stanford Bursey and his gang wanted vengeance for his murder. Just four days later Ross mother and brother were murdered. Ross wanted retaliation but was arrested September 15. He was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison. Today, Ross regrets killing Bursey and takes responsibility for the death of his mother and brother.
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