Keeping our city Peaceful now and in the future.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Dick

Welcome home.



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[Bryan Schwegler]

By the way, is it safe to assume that crime is worse on the east-side of Lakewood? I just moved from near 117th to West Clifton and Detroit, last month and it seems ten-times as safe over here.

Dick

I would say that could generally be true. It seems to me that the poorer areas statistically have higher crime rates. The farther east in Lakewood you go, the poorer the general population becomes.

[Kenneth Warren]

Perceptions of chaos, poverty and privilege are linked to the race and class dynamics that play out spatially, and always become part of the dialogue in a diverse world.

However, I don’t believe it’s naïve to focus on behavior and norms. That's because within that focus race will inevitably surface as part of the dialogue, especially in the enforcement of codes and norms that whether disciminatory or not may arouse in minority populations collective claims and interests concerning justice and historic grievances.

That’s life in United States.

Last year, for instance, African Americans in Shaker Heights, were protesting at City Hall about the enforcement of housing codes, which they felt was discriminatory.

Here’s a capture from City Council:

“Justine Modesty stated that it is a disgrace how Shaker is treating homeowners. Residents are told that violations on their property are a criminal offense. When Shaker sends in people to help with the violations they tear the house up inside and outside. Then the City acts like they don’t know what is going on. Shaker used to be rather decent, but it is very indecent now. You can go up and down the street to see all the houses for sale. Everyone will be selling their house at the same time. Shaker has neighbors pitted against neighbors. If someone is accusing you of something let them face you and then accuse you. It is targeted against old people and black people. Some white people get into the net but she knows where the target is.

Genevieve Mitchell, President of the Carl Stokes Brigade, stated that the membership asked her to come forward to speak on the issue of housing discrimination. The membership sharply criticized the aggressive and capricious nature directed toward African American homeowners regarding housing code violations in Shaker. The membership unanimously also agreed that aggressive housing violations against African American homeowners must cease. The aggressive and capricious nature against black homeowners in the City of Shaker Heights orchestrated by the City is totally unacceptable. The Brigade has pledged to work aggressively to politicize the continued bias and injustice against African American homeowners.â€Â￾

Against the better wisdom of Jim O’Bryan about my "spiral thingy", I continue to apply Spiral Dynamics as one human development template to inform my reading of the values and psychological activated in both Lakewood and in a diverse, global world.

Think about this capture of the evolutionary thrust of the template:

"Beige - savannah grasslands and survival
Purple - color of royalty and the first common dye
Red - blood and hot emotional energy
Blue - sky and heavens
Orange - steel taking form at the furnace
Green - plants and ecology
Yellow - solar energy and life force (correlates to Beige as survival in complexity)
Turquoise - earth's color viewed as a whole from afar (correlates with Purple as a global village)
Coral - life beneath the seas' surface (correlates with Red - a new collective energy core)
Teal - spirit and life connecting (correlates with Blue) etc."

For more: http://www.spiraldynamics.org/Graves/colors.htm

The Catholic Village, as Ms. Roberts cites, would classify as Blue, along with the call for more police and the enforcement of norms.

The Red meme is the "terrible twos" life condition and aggressive, egoic psychological expression that makes us feel threatened.

I like to say Lakewood is on Red Alert.

Orange is Crocker Park. Consider this meme also informing the upper middle class African Americans comfortably living on the West Side, as Ms. Roberts notes.

I put together an outline of memes last year for Lakewood, along with some local markers.


BEIGE
State of nature
Biological urges, desires and
needs
Physical senses dictate state
of being
Instinctive
Reproduction
Survival

Aristocrat/Nursing Homes

PURPLE
Placating the “spirit realmâ€Â￾
Creating family bonds
Protection from harm
Animistic
Tribal traditions
Group rituals

Contra dancing at
Masonic Temple
Pagan drum circles

RED
Survival of the fittest
Law of the jungle
Nature is an adversary to be conquered
Egocentric
Self-assertion for conquest
Exploitive

Gothic murder
Skateboard Park City Hall
mobilization
“Karate kidsâ€Â￾
Wrestling at Masonic Temple

BLUE
Controlled by Higher Power
that punishes
Rewards for good work
Righteous living
Absolutistic
Obedience to Higher Power
Conforming

Lakewood Cares
Lakewood Police (K9
units, motorcycles)
New Gen X family
Lakewood Catholic Academy

ORANGE

Full of resources to build and develop
Making things better
Drive for prosperity
Multiplistic
Pragmatic solutions to achieve ends
Test options

Lakewood Alive
Main Street Initiative
Rockport Center

GREEN

A habitat wherein humanity can find love
Human affiliations
Sharing
Relativistic
Respond to others’ needs
Consensual and situational

Lakewood Dollars
Clean Indoor Act/smoking ban

YELLOW

Chaotic organism in which change is constant
Uncertainty is usual state of being
Systemic
Integrative and interdependent
Models
Accepting and flexible

Lakewood Buzz
Recycled Rainbow
Phoenix Coffee

TURQUOISE

Delicately balanced system of interlocking forces at risk in human hands
Holistic, transpersonal
“Collective consciousnessâ€Â￾
Interconnected

Lakewood Visionary Alignment
Lkwd. Cafeteria U.
Blueprint for Brainpower - library & school construction

For more:

http://www.lkwdpl.org/futuretools/lft-u ... kewood.pdf

Here is a Spiral Dynamics discussion of Katrina.

http://www.spiraldynamics.org/learning/ ... itics.html

Kenneth Warren

[Jim O'Bryan]

Perceptions of chaos, poverty and privilege are linked to the race and class dynamics that play out spatially, and always become part of the dialogue in a diverse world.

Ken

Thanks for posting the color thingy again.

Dick

As for the situation on crime I have stayed out for obvious reasons. It is very tough as a person that listens to the police scanner to say "Farther East More Crime."

It depends totally on the type of "crime" you want to stay away from. In my mind crime of opportunity/potentially violent crime would be the worst. This is a small band that leads from Drug Mart near the Phantasy east to Cleveland. It seems that a great many snatch and grabs or shakedowns occur at Drug Mart with the perps making a dead run back to Cleveland.

We could then go into break-ins, garage theft, car theft, drunks, drugs etc. The same thing every city suffers in a down turned economy.

It would seem that break-ins have jumped out of Lakewood recently. Brake-ins are usually career criminals, that do it for a living, not just a fix. Organized, usually more than one person.

It is a very complex issue, and in the future with this economy will only get tougher.



FWIW

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[Charyn Varkonyi]

Couldnt one argue that the higher incidence (or percieved incidences) of crime on the w117th border have more to do with the ease in which a perpetrator can flee across that border instead of the socio-economic situation of the residents of that area?

fft

Peace,
~Chary

[Jim O'Bryan]

Couldnt one argue that the higher incidence (or percieved incidences) of crime on the w117th border have more to do with the ease in which a perpetrator can flee across that border instead of the socio-economic situation of the residents of that area?

fft

Peace,
~Chary

One could, but then how would you explain the southern border and western borders?

In the crime stats that were presented in a development and blight movement of a couple years ago the numbers were inflated because of Lakewood Police stopping cars before they went to the other side of the Rocky River bridge.

The actual point I was trying to make is all crime is bad. But some is worse than others. As a cab driver in Cleveland I would often tell riders when asked that Cleveland is a safe community. Most of us could walk from one side of the city to the other without real fear. This is not true in Detroit, Chicago, and some other metropolitan areas. In Cleveland you almost have to know or have a friendship with the person that will hurt you. Violent crime against strangers extremely low.

Lakewood is very light on BAD crime, but about the same as the rest of the region in smaller crime.

Whatever that means!

As far as the socio-economic part of the equation. I have to think people do tough things in tough times. One of the things many conservatives overlook is that many of the entitlement programs actually keep crime numbers down. No one can realistically expect a family to go out and starve to death on the street because they have no money coming in. A certain percentage will do whatever is necessary to preserve their life and family units.




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[dl meckes]

It is very tough as a person that listens to the police scanner to say "Farther East More Crime." .

I'll second that. Some businesses seem to attract problems and some of those problems might be mitigated if extra security people were hired.

Listening to the scanner has also informed me of how quickly the LPD can move from one incident to the next. Foot patrols just aren't going to be able to do that (although the cops on bikes are quite speedy).

But I wonder, if there are problems caused (for instance) by bar patrons, should LPD be used as "beat cops" or should the bars in a specific area do a better job of controlling the situation themselves?

Obviously this puts an extra burden on businesses and it won't fix all problems, but it might be helpful.

Many bars had bouncers who checked ID, made sure no-one walked out with a bottle of beer, asked if you parked in a legal spot, were available to break up fights and also told people leaving to be quiet and respectful of the neighborhood.

Most of those places don't need to do that anymore because they are established good citizens.

I notice that the East End Whopper World always has a security person stationed outside by the pick-up window late at night (at least on weekends).

If a certain store has a regular problem with panhandlers in the parking lot, should LPD be called several times a day or should the store hire someone to patrol the parking lot?

I understand that the security people would still call the LPD, but I wonder if their presence might not have a somewhat chilling effect on potential panhandlers or crimes of opportunity without putting an additional burden on the city.

[kate parker]

As far as the socio-economic part of the equation. I have to think people do tough things in tough times. One of the things many conservatives overlook is that many of the entitlement programs actually keep crime numbers down. No one can realistically expect a family to go out and starve to death on the street because they have no money coming in.

jim, jim, jim...i don't know of one conservative personally who wants to do away with entitlement programs. and i was wondering also if you have stats about crime rates as they relate to said programs?

A certain percentage will do whatever is necessary to preserve their life and family units.

yeah, it's called getting a job. maybe two if necessary. committing crimes against people who do work for what they have should never be justified. cry me a river? or crime me a river? either way i pity the foo who thinks it's ok to take from mine so they take care of their own.

kate (the evil conservative) parker

[Joan Roberts]

Gotta go along with Kate on this one.

The libs' cliche of the guy stealing the loaf of bread to feed his family is as reality-challenged as Reagan's Cadilllac-driving "welfare queen" (and I liked Reagan).

A large percentage of crimes, particularly violent ones, aren't committed so much to "preserve life and family units" as they are to preserve drug supply.

I guess there could be inmates in Lucasville who are there for stuffing a loaf of bread and a half-pound of boiled ham in their jackets, but I doubt if you'd find many doing hard time for grocery theft.

As to the east-west-south thing. It seems to me that Cleveland and Lakewood are much more separated to the south (by I-90) than to the east. Not to mention that the Edgecliff and West Park areas are very comparable to Lakewood in terms of income, safety, etc. I'm told the Edgecliff area is a favorite of Cleveland public employees, which makes it particularly stable. That could make a difference, too.

Driving around, it's pretty apparent the "zone of contention" is between Clifton and Madison. I'd be concerned working the late night shift at the W.117th Walgreens.

[Michael Donnelly]

Dick Powis wrote:

I was mugged 3 Sundays ago at 9pm, on Clifton and 117th. The hasty assistance of a police officer would've been nice."

Is anyone else as concerned about this corner as I am? I'm not sure if the corner is gotten worse or if my perception of it has changed. I always remember it as being one of the most walk-able areas in the city but now I ask my wife not to stop there on her way home. The story above by Dick Powis only makes me more cautious.

[Jim O'Bryan]

jim, jim, jim...i don't know of one conservative personally who wants to do away with entitlement programs. and i was wondering also if you have stats about crime rates as they relate to said programs?

A certain percentage will do whatever is necessary to preserve their life and family units.

yeah, it's called getting a job. maybe two if necessary. committing crimes against people who do work for what they have should never be justified. cry me a river? or crime me a river? either way i pity the foo who thinks it's ok to take from mine so they take care of their own.

kate (the evil conservative) parker

Kate Kate Kate

I know of many that do.

As for the job, great concept if you can find one. I myself have never had a problem. Wait I have almost always worked for myself. Still I do know many that are suffering. Most were in high paying specialty work for NASA etc. That no longer get $60 an hour and are trying to pay for that lifestyle with $6.00 and hour jobs.

But as the market dries up and it is drying up, things will get tough.


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[Jim O'Bryan]

I was mugged 3 Sundays ago at 9pm, on Clifton and 117th. The hasty assistance of a police officer would've been nice.

Dick

I just have to ask a couple questions.

Exactly where were you?

Any physcial harm?

Did you have a cell, or go home to make the report?

I will be happy to ask about the delay.

Again a city has to be safe, clean, enjoyable.


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[ryan costa]

Is it legal to drink beer or Gin on your front porch in Lakewood?

[dl meckes]

Yes, but not together and not to excess.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Yes, but not together and not to excess.

You jest.

No boilmakers in Lakewood?

Used to be my favorite at the Stop and Go.


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