The Self-Cleaning Oven
Well, it’s official. As of December 31, 2014 we had 135 murders here in Indianapolis; one of the highest in a while.
And once again, what’s most annoying is by my last count, about 80 percent of the victims had adult criminal histories and about 90 percent of the suspects. Those criminal histories included crimes against another person, a drug arrest or a weapons arrest.
The city has spent a lot of time trying to address this issue this past year. We took steps to put more police on the streets, there was the “Your Life Matters” campaign, an infrastructure put in place for early childhood education. City Mosaic , a coalition of faith-based groups, has stepped up to intervene. And the Department of Public Safety has taken a systemic look at abandoned homes, mental issues, and all the other factors that contribute to crime and violence. The Ten Point coalition has been doing its job and a group of African-American attorneys have been reaching out to the community to teach young people their rights as well as their responsibilities when it comes to interacting with law enforcement.
It seems the only people who aren’t getting the memo are the bad guys.
These knuckleheads, despite our best efforts, seem hell bent on shooting each other. I won’t get into the discussion on “black on black” violence because this conversation is not about race, but about behavior. How many times did we read about someone who should have been behind bars back out on the streets and committing another crime? Too many.
And if bad guys aren’t going to take the hint, or the help, to change their lifestyles then perhaps we let the “self-cleaning oven” run its course. In other words, we do what we can to help those who want to be helped, but let the rest of them take each other out of gene pool, which to be frank, is probably the only good most of these guys will ever do society.
It may sound harsh, but how many victim mugshots did you see before you shrugged your shoulders, said “meh”, and went about your business? Our hearts all bleed and we feel for the families of victims like Nathan Trapuzzano or Dominique Allen, however, they are the exception, not the rule.
Yes, all lives should matter, however when mope with criminal record kills another mope with a criminal record, all I can conclude is that there’s one less mope with a criminal record. Like I said, it’s like a self-cleaning oven.
