The Observation Deck

Dee Martinez wrote:

David Anderson wrote: Stories like these challenge our fight or flight instincts. If we flee, where are we to flee to?

I think most people realize that no place is perfect. But I also believe more Lakewoodites are wondering if maybe theres someplace BETTER.
Rationalizing responses ("it can happen anywhere", "theyre just crazy kids" "the cops got the guys") to situations like this dont make people feel better. They give the impression that no one is really listening.

Exactly.

Dee Martinez wrote:

David Anderson wrote: Stories like these challenge our fight or flight instincts. If we flee, where are we to flee to?

I think most people realize that no place is perfect. But I also believe more Lakewoodites are wondering if maybe theres someplace BETTER.
Rationalizing responses ("it can happen anywhere", "theyre just crazy kids" "the cops got the guys") to situations like this dont make people feel better. They give the impression that no one is really listening.

Dee


I understand your frustration but if we cannot talk rationally about the situation then the conversation is not going to go anywhere.

This past weekend we got 5 criminals caught in Lakewood. In Westlake at least three I heard of got away easily. When they sit at the crack house, Three are laughing at how porous Westlake is. then between puffs they wonder what happened to there friends in Lakewood.

Police catching criminals is good and relevant.

More police is good and relevant if you want to stop them from coming into Lakewood.

I am all ears on other ideas, but block watches and more police are proven to work every time.

People such as myself and other Observers, are not just listening, we are crunching numbers, looking at other cities and areas, and coming up with solutions.

Do you or anyone else think crime is less in Chicago? Minneapolis? Phoenix? LA? Columbus? Lexington KY? Buffalo? Vermont?

It is a national epidemic.

Of course I am sure any realtor will assure you it is better there. But I cannot live by the word of "Come on in the water is fine." I'll take the devil I know over the one I do not. There is a plan out there to make Lakewood safe, safer than anywhere else, the question is what are you willing to do.


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FWIW

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I think most people realize that no place is perfect. But I also believe more Lakewoodites are wondering if maybe theres someplace BETTER

Which brings to mind the comment that many of our Police officers opt to live elsewhere, because of their concerns about crime. You don't have to be a rocket surgeon to figure this one out. If those who are charged with our safety, would rather live elsewhere for their own safety, we have a problem. And given that it is a decision made by those who really know what is going on, it is more of a problem than just perceptions.

Jeff

Good post, Dee. I always enjoy reading your thoughts and reactions.

While I realize that folks are wondering if there is someplace better I try to take into account where Lakewood is now and what steps it as a community are taking to make it better in the future. You're right, folks who don't feel that they are being listened to will lose confidence and leave.

Using crime statistics to validate or not the need for a police levy is one thing. However, perception is reality.

If a candidate were to use statistics in crime rates to rip on our incumbent mayor, well, I would feel they were using scare tactics to gain votes. However, if any candidate says "I applaud past efforts but we can do better" then clearly states Lakewood's crime trends in contrast to other burbs and articulates a plan to make Lakewood safer then they would have my ear. Maybe a police levy is a real viable answer. I don't know.

Do we, as a community, have confidence that our current and prospective leaders are listening?

I'm starting to think FitzGerald was right about the difficulty of having a rational debate on safety with the elections impending. The time to debate is not best when a) there's a perception of crisis and b) several people have a stake in their own vision of a positive outcome. Likely there will be lots of debates about approaches that will become highly devisive, which is unfortunate. To answer an earlier question, I think absolutely the leaders are listening. I just think that they are filtering the input based on their own view of what the solution should be. This needs to be a time of open-mindedness, and minds are never more closed or polarized than during an election.

As an aside, I think Jim's comments about getting ourselves on the front porch and being visible has tremendous merit. If I hear anything going on around the house, from a domestic squabble across the street to a gaggle of teens walking by, I get myself outside and visible. I stare at speeders that go by. If I hit the bathroom in the wee hours I check out the front and back windows for things out of the ordinary. Pardon my french, It's my damn street and I'm going to do all I can to keep it safe.

Paul Schrimpf wrote:It's my damn street and I'm going to do all I can to keep it safe.

Paul

That's not french it humanism.

For over 5 years i have been trying to make a case to get involved in every aspect of the city on a level everyone feels comfortable with.

No one has to over react, even today.

If you want health walk, if you want quiet sit on a porch, if you want information get a scanner.

Now five years later it is all coming true with the exception of citizens realizing they hold the keys to all of this.

While I listened to a Lakewood City Council member on the radio talking about how afraid he is to walk into Lakewood Parks during the day, all I cold think of was what a bad ad for Lakewood but a good ad for criminals. Come into Lakewood even I a middle aged man is afraid to walk around.

We have all the keys, and all the tools. But we have to take ownership of the problem. We cannot take a I pay taxes so I should not have to pick up liter approach. Unless we are willing to pay a lot more in taxes.

It is a bad time for politicians to talk about anything. Oddly they have all stayed out of this discussion almost entirely, so safety must not be on their agendas.

Well it is on mine and at the top of the list.

As Steve Davis, one of my campaign managers if I decided to run has put so well.

Safe and clean. Not even Clean and safe.

Safe and Clean can get us where we all want to be.

It is not the rocket surgery Ezra Pound spoke of.

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This seems to be a good place to mention again about the citizen watch group we are forming. Many are contacting me, and we're now up to 8 who want to help. Once again anyone with a clean criminal backround history can be of some help. I've given a couple examples in PM of how it can work, but those examples are the "high end".

We're really talking more like "oh yeah, look at those guys spray painting the walls of the _________. Or, you see a car actually being broken into.
What do you do? You won't get involved other than provide information. We are not looking for "good ole boys" here. We do, however, want to have eyes and ears out and about when possible.

Check out the thread, Community Watch too.
BTW, you must live in our city to join, have a clean police record among other things. We are not doing this like some of the failed citizen watch groups I've read about in the southern areas of our country. We're going to do this like the successful ones. It's easier.

Our intention is to provide a network of eyes, ears and info that our police dept may or may not choose to use. That is THEIR job, not ours.

Mark Allan Crnolatas

Statistical analysis is one thing. And I think most rational adults realize that noplace is 100% guaranteed safe. You can live alone on top of a mountain and a 747 can stray off course and crash into you.

The more immediate questionthat people answer everyday is, where would you feel safer putting your baby in a stroller and walking around the block?

East 55th or downtown Cleveland?
Downtown Cleveland or West 54th?
West 54th or Lakewood?
Lakewood or Westlake?
Lakewood or Parma?
Lakewood or North Ridgeville?

Ifyou dont understand that people ask themsevles those questions every day and act on the answers, you dont understand why people move in and move out of Lakewood
It's also good to remember the old saying that 'a conservative is a liberal who just got mugged'

I generally feel safe in all of Lakewood. Regarding the stroller/family walk scenario there are some Lakewood neighborhoods I feel safER in than others.

East 55th.
Downtown.
Lakewood.
Lakewood.
Lakewood.
I am at East 55th and Chester, and there are lots of people walking with their babies. There is something to be said of the block watches. Collinwood cracked down on the drug dealers. The citizens got fed up and started block watches. The drug dealers took their activites, the prostitutes,users, sellers to the Westside. Ohio City to Lakewood is a mess. Homicides and crime have risen as a result. Collinwood is now a little better. Criminals are like water, they take the path of least resistance.
I agree the time is right to stenghten our community and be alert. A tight knit network in communication with a quick response time would send a strong message to the criminal element. It would also be cheaper than 30 new police officers.

Everyone has the right to their opinion. However, if you would feel safer walking your child in Lakewood than a gated subdivision in Westlake or North Ridgeville, I would suggest that your perception is perhaps slightly at odds with the general publics
Understand that I am not slamming Lakewood I am arguing that peoples OPINIONS DO MATTER. The Masters are scared and angry. Should they be patted on the head and told "dont worry, at least we caught the naughtylittle kids who did that and theyll be sent to bed without supper"

Joe Whisman wrote:Criminals are like water, they take the path of least resistance.

Thank you

Dee

"dont worry, at least we caught the naughtylittle kids who did that and theyll be sent to bed without supper"

I really do not remember that quote mentioned until now.


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Dee Martinez wrote:Should they be patted on the head and told "dont worry, at least we caught the naughtylittle kids who did that and theyll be sent to bed without supper"

No.

At the meeting at City Hall last week, Ryan Demro suggested reading a particular article in the current Free Times (first for me). So, I did. Good article. It's about a woman on E something street who decided to take back her street. Interesting. Interesting too about how the courts got invloved with slum lords and banks. Maybe Jim O could contact the Free Times and ask for permission to reprint it here or something.

Keeping our streets safe, drug free, thug free, whatever, is going to take grass roots efforts such as Mark is attempting, active block watches and so on. If we wait for city hall, it ain't gonna happen... citizens, working with proper authorities, will probably affect change before city hall alone.

Sorry about your troubles Dee. That is a shame.

I found the story I mentioned above if anybody is interested.

http://www.freetimes.com/stories/15/8/stealing-home

Joe Ott wrote:

Dee Martinez wrote:Should they be patted on the head and told "dont worry, at least we caught the naughtylittle kids who did that and theyll be sent to bed without supper"

No.

At the meeting at City Hall last week, Ryan Demro suggested reading a particular article in the current Free Times (first for me). So, I did. Good article. It's about a woman on E something street who decided to take back her street. Interesting. Interesting too about how the courts got invloved with slum lords and banks. Maybe Jim O could contact the Free Times and ask for permission to reprint it here or something.

Keeping our streets safe, drug free, thug free, whatever, is going to take grass roots efforts such as Mark is attempting, active block watches and so on. If we wait for city hall, it ain't gonna happen... citizens, working with proper authorities, will probably affect change before city hall alone.

Sorry about your troubles Dee. That is a shame.

Joe

Thanks for the post. Michael Gill Senior Editor of the FreeTimes was one of the first people signing on to the Observer. We have worked together on stories and hopefully will again, maybe on this.

We also ran a story about a woman on Beach that took her street back. Do a search off the front page for "Beach Ave." and it will come up.

One of the things most frustrating about this thread and others on the board, is that some of us have been talking about this forever. Many laughed, joked, made light of all of it. Now it seems like an emergency!

Two years ago I had 7 bars willing to pay for dinner, non-alcoholic beverages and pay phones for block watchers near their bars. They wanted to get in front of any problem. Well many of those bars have changed ownership or management, but I can still get some in.

But is this city ready to take back streets and have fun while doing it?

Maybe that is the question for the board.

Some of us are out there every night, and loving it.


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