The Observation Deck

In the big world outside of Lakewood, major American cities saw crime rise in 2020, a trend so far continuing in 2021.

Experts point to a "perfect storm" of factors — but among them “it’s highly likely the affects of the pandemic are partially responsible."

• There has been an increase in mental health-related issues.
• The entire criminal justice system has been challenged in new ways, and the sectors that hold people accountable for their crimes have been severely impacted by Covid-19.
• Americans experienced massive job losses.
• In general, “Last year, everyday patterns of life broke down. Schools shut down. Young people were on their own. There was a widespread sense of a crisis and a surge in gun ownership. People stopped making their way to institutions that they know and where they spend their time. That type of destabilization is what creates the conditions for violence to emerge.”

Add to this, even in more usual circumstances, “we typically see as the weather warms up there is an increase in violence all around,” notes the deputy police chief in Charlotte, NC, as others have also suggested.

I would not tell anyone to sit back and do nothing in response. Looking for constructive action, even at this very local level, is appropriate.

But probably emergency response is just going to have further unhappy duty before it, for a while, as broad conditions which formed over a year or more probably can't be reversed instantly even by those who have influence on broad policy.

Meanwhile, of course, the pandemic itself has killed more than 1700 people in Cuyahoga County, and put thousands in the hospital, and probably had long-term impacts which we may not understand for years.

2020/2021 crime changes in the United States are easy to have anticipated generally familiar with America.
as have the protests and riots.

Here are some comparisons to other English speaking nations. I left out Guyana.

Australia
https://phys.org/news/2020-07-crimes-dr ... cides.html

New Zealand
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19- ... NUO5KKZPI/


Canada
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/crime- ... -1.5890059

great britain
https://www.bbc.com/news/56463680

most people in most scandinavian countries are more well spoken in english than most americans. but that is too much research.

This evening's shooting at Madison Park brightens the spotlight on Lakewood crime.
This being an election year, I'm sure this will be a hot topic.

This is very similar to what happened in 2007, when a series of high profile shootings preceded a mayoral election.
That campaign devolved into a lot of fear........one candidate even did a campaign commercial at a shooting scene.
I hope the city can avoid some of the ugly dog whistle politics of that season.....it's been 14 years, hopefully folks are more rational these days.

Michael Deneen wrote:This evening's shooting at Madison Park brightens the spotlight on Lakewood crime.
This being an election year, I'm sure this will be a hot topic.

This is very similar to what happened in 2007, when a series of high profile shootings preceded a mayoral election.
That campaign devolved into a lot of fear........one candidate even did a campaign commercial at a shooting scene.
I hope the city can avoid some of the ugly dog whistle politics of that season.....it's been 14 years, hopefully folks are more rational these days.

The problem is they are all out on their soapboxes talking BS.

First two shootings start in other cities, this is a crime of passion with teens. Crime wave in Lakewood, hardly.

Social media and the ill-informed kangaroo court cowboys that ride it are the cancer in this country.

Nobody cares WHERE or WHY the shootings started.
The only thing that matters is that they happened in Lakewood.
If people perceive that crime is a problem, then crime is in fact a problem.

This city's well-being is totally tied to perception.
Both real estate values and our "bar and restaurant economy"-- the major pillars of our city budget and local economy -- rely on perception.