tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post6838514856432764920..comments2023-12-24T05:26:48.861-05:00Comments on The Pittsburgh Comet: Wednesday: Hands Down ... MA' PANTS!Bram Reichbaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05620172942925293407noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-78375661300960825352009-05-07T23:18:00.000-04:002009-05-07T23:18:00.000-04:00Is it only on TV? I saw little TV coverage of an a...Is it only on TV? I saw little TV coverage of an armed robbery at a state store on the North Side the other day.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-10285459072385575532009-05-06T14:40:00.000-04:002009-05-06T14:40:00.000-04:00It's probably also relevant to consider the concep...It's probably also relevant to consider the concept/issue of "juking the stats," to use some lingo from The Wire. On some of those violent offenses, it's possible that the official report can term the crime as less than it actually is, i.e. writing a felony as a misdemeanor. Statistically, the violent crimes decrease.<br /><br />In the corrupt, politicized world of The Wire, such antics took place when a sitting mayor needed to be able to point to reduced crime in order to trumpet public safety as a campaign tool. <br /><br />But that's just on TV...Chris Peakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04459990969054956222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-45880978882541231792009-05-06T13:41:00.000-04:002009-05-06T13:41:00.000-04:00Ah but we didn't reduce violent crime by 5% as a c...Ah but we didn't reduce violent crime by 5% as a city. We reduced violent crime by 5% in approximately 5/6 of our territory, whereas in the remaining 1/6 it rose 19%.<br /><br />I might also have mentioned again the well-circulated information that homicides were up.<br /><br />However, your points about some-30% reductions in Homewood, Terrace Village and Downtown are very well taken.<br /><br />My point was not to castigate the city or our public safety services as failures. My point was to cast a degree of realism on some very interestingly timed and somewhat artful claims of success. It only serves our residents ill in the end to offer false assurances.<br /><br />Since we are talking about public safety, I'll also point out this letter to the editor. It wasn't written by the most neutral source in the county, but it speaks to a point I think a lot of folks would like to make if they had the authority.<br /><br />http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/s_623758.htmlBram Reichbaumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05620172942925293407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-50653343153965286972009-05-06T12:22:00.000-04:002009-05-06T12:22:00.000-04:00One might suggest that a dip in violent crime of 3...One might suggest that a dip in violent crime of 30-some percent in Homewood, Terrace Village and downtown might be significant.<br /><br />One also might suggest that the dip in crime of more than 10 percent in Zone 1 might be significant, just as it is significant that it dropped by nearly as much in Zone 2.<br /><br />It didn't drop so much in the neighborhoods composing Zones 4 or 6, but there's far less violent crime there, a fact readers in those neighborhoods would readily understand.<br /><br />Criminologists would suggest also that when a major US city reduces violent crime stats by 5 percent, it means something that's a bit more than tenuous.Mr Obviousnoreply@blogger.com