________________________________ ISSUE OF THE MONTH WHY DO SO FEW DALLAS MINORITY COUNCIL MEMBERS SPEAK OUT AND SUPPORT POLICIES TO REDUCE CRIME....SINCE THEIR CONSTITUENTS ARE THE MAJOR VICTIMS? ACCORDING TO THE DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT.....OF THE 137 MURDER VICTIMS THIS YEAR THRU JUNE, 42% WERE BLACK, 42% WERE LATINO & 15% WERE WHITE The major victims of crime in our society and in our city are the minorities. The highest crime rates are in minority neighborhoods, yet you rarely hear minority council members, politicians and leaders speak out about the need for more police protection for their citizens. Why? Ron Kirk was mayor during the most prosperous years that Dallas has seen in decades....years that saw Dallas's crime rate increase to the highest in the nation among major cities with population over one million. Blacks and Latinos suffered disproportionately, yet he took little action to curb the crime increase. Why? Minority council members are always first in line to support costly ventures like building new stadiums, providing tax breaks to developers, banning smoking in public places and other high profile projects, which have nothing to do with providing basic city services. Providing basic city functions is the primary responsiblity of city government. Yet police and crime prevention is a basic city service that the mayor and minority city council members continue to neglect. Why? We will be addressing this issue later this month here on dallascrime.com. Meanwhile, provide us with your thoughts on the issue by leaving your comments above or E-mail me directly at editor@dallascrime.com. We appreciate your support. Calie Stephens - Editor FACTOID: The average lifespan of a police officer is 20 years less than that of the average American citizen (FOX News 06/02/02) |
