The Observation Deck

Justine Cooper wrote:But haven't both these candidates been on council during the Mayor's term? What have they done to contribute to safety and keeping up the parks?

Sure and neither were the Director of Public Safety either. Were there legistlative steps that should have been taken to lower crime... maybe. Dramatic changes from one year to the next would be unexpected so I'm not sure what my expectation for changing legistlation to impact crime would be.

How is blaming the mayor for any increase in crime here, different from blaming the President for terrorists attacks that happen during his term? There are variables that do matter whether you want to admit it or not, many variables in Cleveland, since most of the crimes committed here are done by Cleveland residents. Instead of statistics that change from person to person, how about positive plans to make changes? The whole city has become more lax on many things going wrong in the city, if you listen to what the residents are saying. Let' s get more police presence and enforce the laws on the books.

I think the "perception" of crime is just as important as the "real" crime in Lakewood. A lot of the crimes in Lakewood go unreported. For example, it is a big secret among the bar owners in the city that they do not report many of the assaults that happen in their bars. They don't want the attention from the police, and more so, the attention from the community. They would rather handle the incidents without calling the police. Another example, I live on the east end of Lakewood and panhandling is a huge problem over here. Almost 50% of the time I enter or leave my apartment on Detroit Ave., I am panhandled by someone. Rarely do I get an opportunity to report the panhandling activity to the police because I am too busy or the offender moved on. In addition to the panhandling problem, I have been solicited by prostitutes on the east end of Lakewood too. I reported this to the police, and was laughed at by an officer stating that "Lakewood doesn't have prostitutes." Prostitution is not a huge problem, but it has moved into Lakewood's east end on a small scale. I even left a message with my council woman about the panhandling and prostitution, but my call was never returned.

The perception of crime should be taken serious. Some people might not feel very safe in Lakewood anymore. For example, an elderly person may not feel safe walking into a local store because there are large numbers of youth loitering outside of the establishment. Another example, right across from the Lakewood City Hall on Detroit is an apartment building where people loiter out front. I can't confirm if they are selling drugs or not, but it sure appears that way. These are just some examples of many that I can think of. I am out and about in Lakewood driving around many hours through out the day for my job and I see the suspicious and blatant illegal activity taking place.

Some of the crimes are very minor, like littering, jaywalking, loitering, loud car stereos, panhandling, etc. These are mostly issues of "order" in the city, but they lead to the sense of a perception of crime. The majority of this goes unreported because people are too busy or too afraid to make a complaint about it. Confrontations occur frequently from these minor offenses and sometimes almost escalate into major offenses like assault and other crimes too. For example, I've seen people jaywalking and a motorist almost hits them. It turns into a shouting match, and sometimes almost ends up in a fight. Jaywalking is out of control in this city. Most people are guilty of doing this, including myself from time to time, but I always try to make the best effort to cross at an intersection. I've also seen young people loitering and acting disrespectful to people passing by that ends in confrontations. It's all over Lakewood...it's a problem. Some people might look at these two examples and laugh when there are more serious and major crimes occurring and I understand this. However, the perception of the city's crime is mostly about "order." That elderly person shouldn't be afraid to walk down the sidewalk. Oh, and another big problem is bicyclists running traffic lights on both the roads and the sidewalks. This happens all the time, and I see them do it in front of the police and nothing is done about it.

There a lot of little things like this that just make the city look unruly or the perception of crime or that it is not safe. The city needs order in my opinion. Having order for these minor offenses lets people know that if you commit a crime in Lakewood, chances are you're going to get caught. Overall, I think that would lead to a reduction of more major crimes because the offenders will know that the city does not tolerate crime and maintains order.

What I outlined here is very much like the "Broken Window" theory, but it is very true. A city needs the perception of order for people to feel safe. Additionally, I think it will reflect in the actual crime stats too.

Eric,
I 100% agree with your post. While I don't agree with people using scare tactics to win an election or make false promises, I do agree, and would bet most do, that crimes like you posted are on the rise. My uncle came in from Huron and we drove East on Detroit to 117th and he asked me if we were safe! I don't get why police don't drive up and down Madison and Detroit over and over to prevent people from doing the things you mentioned. I do hope we hear positive moves to help the safety in Lakewood. We all want that.