The Observation Deck

This story is true and no names or street names are used. It was not a "high crime area" or was it? No neighborhood named but not bad. It pains me to say this call could be anywhere, in any city, and is happening more and more everyday.

It illustrates something we overlook on our race to the stats on crime, courts, etc.

This flows out of the conversation we had over coffee at bela dubby about curfew. We know the laws, we know the punishment, but can we ever put a figure on cost to enforce? I am not advocating in anyway one or the other, the story has nothing to do with Curfew.

How do we find and measure the lost stats?

Call goes out about 10:30 that a girl wants her boyfriend thrown out of her house. Police on other calls, say they will pick it up when they are clear with current calls. About one minute later an officer breaks free and heads to the address.

By that time the couple is in the driveway yelling, and a neighbor calls. She reports he is screaming is about the woman calling the police, then mentions he is now punching the woman in the face.

As the police car turns onto the street in less than a minute from the second call, the man takes off on foot through backyards. The first officer stops and makes sure the girl is OK, the second squad called leaves the car and take off for the violent offender on foot.

As the man makes it four blocks, five blocks, six blocks at night through backyards and fences. Two more squads join in the chase as they break free from other calls. In the rush to bring others up to speed it goes silent. They start griding off the area with other officers. In about 5 minutes they spot him and the chase takes off again. Somewhere near the center of the city they catch up to him. He turns and asks why they are chasing him?

They explain why they have been chasing him for nearly 30 minutes. He denies it.

Meanwhile back where his SUV is, the girl has decided not to press charges. She is bleeding from the mouth and nose. She has a restraining order against the male, and has been beat up by him before. But if she press charges he would go to jail, and she would never see him again!

I do not have the actual numbers, I am not sure they can be found our quantified. Domestic Violence is on a steep rise. It is the most dangerous call for a patrolman to make. Every night in Lakewood, River, Bay, Cleveland there is at least one or two DV calls. The stress level for the officer has to be high, then the chase, then the charges dropped.

While we look at all the court cases, the police actions, the tickets and charges, can we also look for the lost stats? How many officers for how long on each call.

This is where we will see if we need more of less police. None of the other figures matter as they are faux and partial numbers. If we are doing this, let's do it right.


FWIW

The best thing to do in a situation like this is break both the boyfriends arms. He'll be incapable of much violence for a month, and by the time the casts come off he'll be too atrophied to do much harm. In the interim ministers or counselors can explain to him what better values are to have.

ryan costa wrote:The best thing to do in a situation like this is break both the boyfriends arms. He'll be incapable of much violence for a month, and by the time the casts come off he'll be too atrophied to do much harm. In the interim ministers or counselors can explain to him what better values are to have.

While I feel the punishment is not as severe as it could be, these are facts that need to be considered.

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Maybe the laws should be changed. If the officers see that the victim has indeed been injuried they can arrest and press charges on that alone. Plus she had already stated to the officers that she was hit.

I just don't get it. ( I Understand that the victims sometimes keep going back to the wifebeaters) They love them, the guy is sorry, they can't survive without them, etc, etc. I just don't understand why.

If the officers see that the victim has indeed been injured they can arrest and press charges on that alone. Plus she had already stated to the officers that she was hit.

The major problem is proving the incident. If the victim is unwilling to press charges, and there were no other witnesses to the incident, there is no way, under the Rules of Evidence, to prove the crime. Statements made to the police are hearsay (there are some exceptions) and can't generally be used to prove the truth of the allegations as you can't cross-examine a statement.

If there are other witnesses, that is a different story. But, the huge issue remains getting an abused party, whose self-esteem is non-existent, to testify against the abuser. In many instances, that abused party is likely to blame themselves as the cause of the abuse. It is a very sad situation.

Jeff

Here’s a quality of life offense I witnessed about forty minutes ago and file under the stats that got away category.

Two teenage males evidently waiting for the bus on Detroit and Lincoln open the Scene paper box and toss the papers on the ground.

I turn my car around and pull up and tell them to pick-up it and put it in the trash or I’m calling a cop.

They did so, calling me a few choice words.

I figured that after I left these defiant punks would then pull the papers out of the trash and throw them on the ground.

So I drove around the block and noticed that the paper were on the ground.

I pulled up again and said I’m calling a cop. Do you live in Lakewood? I know your face and I’ll ID you.

I called the police from home.

I returned to the scene in case an ID was necessary. They were gone but the newspapers were in the trash.

Whatever one makes of the crime stats, there are countless quality of life offenses of animus, contempt and disrespect like this occurring daily.

From litter to defiant and obscene catcalls that intimidate women, including mothers (my son mentioned a conversation he had with woman and mother he graduated with who was complaining about the intimidating action around Singara Park, and was thinking about moving to Avon Lake where her parents relocated) these are the actions of broken window intimidation that our city ignores at its peril.

Crime stats can be argued away, but in my world, such quality of life offenses are happening with increasing frequency.

Unless treated (with what) these perforations of civility and cultural decorum by defiant punks will eventually bleed the city.

Do the mayoral candidates have any ideas for treatment of these perforations of civility and cultural decorum?

Kenneth Warren

Beajay Michaud wrote:
I just don't get it. ( I Understand that the victims sometimes keep going back to the wifebeaters) They love them, the guy is sorry, they can't survive without them, etc, etc. I just don't understand why.

I worked at a shelter for battered women for 3 years in college. It is a VERY complicated, psychological situation where both the batterer and the batteree share the same psychological makeup. It is not a problem easily solved.


ANd Ken - regarding your post - that's what I'm talkin' about. We all need to start setting standards for this town and not let anyone - whether they are residents or not - operate below them. Where's the sense of pride for our city? Where's the belief that we have the right to expect more from people.

The city of lakewood behaves like a battered woman and allows those in her life to treat her like crap without standing up.

Interesting, isn't it?

Dianeâ€Â￾

Thanks for superbly intelligent feedback.

There are many deep and interesting ways for us to make sense of how “the battered woman syndromeâ€Â￾ plays out in Lakewood’s psychological, political and systemic dynamics. Obviously “the battered woman syndromeâ€Â￾ plays out in the analogy at the expense of the city economic well-being, i.e. the control of people’s space and time by the money complex of capital.

These questions of agency and precision come to mind:

1. What agents are doing the battering?
2. What agents in the city believe the battering is the city’s fault?
3. What agents are using abuse to control the city?
4. At what levels of emotional dependency do agents abusing the city connect to the victim?

Lakewood's Deeper Complex: Quest for the Father in Stats

A few years back Stephen Calhoun made an interesting point. In discussing Lakewood’s psycho-geographic complex and low rent conditions of churn mainly in relation to the grasping for a pure faith in machine, data and management to raise quality of life by government (think Citi-stat), he noted:

“Key here is its formation of a paternal matrix, both concrete and subconscious. The churn in the Shadow is obviously good/bad Mother; single mothers, hard working mothers, non-working mothers. Lakewood has a Mother Complex and this is the archetypal constellation of its animus. Lost fathers don't favor democracy when they come back…..

How about absentee landlord as absent father? One way to look at it: the archetypal family systems.â€Â￾

Perhaps some of this deep conjectural material will evoke a response that might enliven our neighborhood practice with psychological and theoretical insight.

Kenneth Warren

Ken,
Of course, a very thought provoking response! I'm really going to have to think about all of the possibilities with this one!

I think we may be on to something.

Time to watch the Tribe.
Later,
D

ryan costa wrote:The best thing to do in a situation like this is break both the boyfriends arms. He'll be incapable of much violence for a month, and by the time the casts come off he'll be too atrophied to do much harm. In the interim ministers or counselors can explain to him what better values are to have.

What about disturbing the peace or resisting arrest or fleeing an officer? I am sure they could charge him with something even if the girl doesn't want to. Maybe if he goes to Lakewod court a few times then they will both move out of Lakewood. Its called enforcing for quality of life.
I got into it this morning because I asked some guy at the bus stop to stop yelling and swearing into his cell phone under my apartments. If people's behavoir is not tolorated then they will hopefully go elsewhere (I certainly do not expect them to change their behavoir, so moving on is the best I can hope for).

Diane Helbig wrote: The city of lakewood behaves like a battered woman and allows those in her life to treat her like crap without standing up.

Interesting, isn't it?

Actually like battered women, more sad than interesting. If you go back to the earliest threads on this forum, you will this subject brought up again and again.

Friday, people commented that Madison looked alive again. It has always been alive, people just have to get out. Maybe this is a larger problem in America. We complain about jobs but shop at Walmart. We complain about the War, taxes and where we are headed and never vote.

As I play the conspiracy freak here on the LO, I cannot help but wonder, 65% of American medicated, the rest self medicated.

We can rebuild the self esteem of the city. There is a way to turn the city around, and it is easy and fun, costs almost nothing, that is what is so upsetting.

John

Good post.



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No Jim, it does not always look alive. Ask the girl who got mugged in front of the park when no one was around in the middle of the day. Drive down in the evening on Madison and in some parts you only the people in their "smoking" lounge in front of bars out. It needs to come alive again and it can. Bela and Sullivans both opened on the East end of Lakewood and of course we have the park and pool and library and a big old bowling alley in addition to some small businesses. What can we do to make it come alive more is the question, safer and friendlier, especially near the new school with all those kids?

Justine Cooper wrote:No Jim, it does not always look alive...

Justine

Go back and reread.

Friday it looked alive again.

To make this city alive again is easy, so easy it pains me.

As we know a city with people on the street, is a safe street.

My point.

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OK I reread. I do get that the city can be turned around. At this point it seems like a blame game and nothing changes. Then all kinds of people give good suggestions on the deck and no one takes them and changes anything. Block watches are the best thing that has come probably from all of this, people taking it into their own hands and not waiting for the city or government.

Have the streets changed here? I have only been here 8 years but guess yes. So where are we? Who is to blame if there is more crime? Mayor, council, police, city? Not the police who are keeping up, but I doubt it all falls on one mayor either. There are committees I thought in council for parks and safety. Who is to blame for so many empty storefronts and slum landlords? All this literature in this campaign about candidates going to fill empty store fronts. How? You don't have to be mayor to do that. Who does that fall on? Chamber of Commerce? Are they filling empty store fronts? The city? Are they coming down on those landlords? What happens to abandoned homes and buildings that don't pay taxes? There has been some small focus on Detroit of course, but nothing on Madison for some reason. Hell yea this city could be turned into another direction, probably better than it has ever been. In a time where people cannot afford their mortgages in many places, Lakewood will always be affordable and have some of the best schools and social services in any city, and be close to all highways. I do see what you see Jim, but get frustrated at the finger pointing, campaigning with promises, and in the meantime what can be done to actually move forward, so no girl ever gets mugged in front of our park in broad daylight again>?

So that stores are doing well and more want to open? So that we have art walks like Tremont, an area that was once run down far worse than Lakewood? So that people pointing fingers really go out and eat/shop/entertain at Lakewood businesses? That is all I wonder. This isn't about one mayor who can or cannot do all of this, this is about a team of a city, chamber, non-profit groups, council, etc who all should be on board together.

Justine Cooper wrote:So that stores are doing well and more want to open? So that we have art walks like Tremont, an area that was once run down far worse than Lakewood? So that people pointing fingers really go out and eat/shop/entertain at Lakewood businesses? That is all I wonder. This isn't about one mayor who can or cannot do all of this, this is about a team of a city, chamber, non-profit groups, council, etc who all should be on board together.

Justine

thank you.

Tremont took 25 years. The Warehouse District took almost 30. Ironically much of both came from Lakewoodites, many who still live here!

How many from City Council, Chamber and Mainstreet, LakewoodAlive (art meeting) did you see Friday night at Lakewood's first art walk? How many, who are all members of the LO congratulated you, Ruthie, Barb and others for your hard volunteer efforts? You almost get that feeling...

I know of one person that is doing that, but will not ruin that surprise.

Thank you so much for your efforts with MAMA. While others talk, you are delivering the goods. You are actually practicing what you preach.

I see a very good strong wind blowing through Lakewood. If they do not get bogged down, with same old same old, I like where it is headed.

As for your list of what to do. There is a small group, that has been working non-stop for over 5 years. They have ideas and plans for most of what ails this city. Last night two were talking very seriously and then suddenly amazement hit their faces as they realized just how many things had been checked off their list.



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