News from The Roanoke Times -Cleaning up city helps clean up crime: “"If you talk to neighborhood groups, you will find that the top priority of a lot of them is crime and code enforcement," said Shirley Bethel, a member of the Neighborhood Advocates, a city-sponsored panel charged with helping neighborhoods solve their problems. "The code enforcement, the neighborhoods think it's not getting done."”
Allright, I've been mulling this one over in my head for a few days now. I have some experience with this one, having lived in NYC during the time of Rudy Giuliani's "Operation Broken Windows."
The key to ridding yourself of crime is not code enforcement, code enforcement is one method incorporated in Broken Windows. The biggest component to the whole program, and one which is truly the most effective, is Quality of Life enforcement.
You really want to rid yourself of the riff-raff and improve your communities? Quality of Life. That lowlife thug down the street who keeps his bass kicking so loud it rattles his trunk? Ticket him endlessly for violating the Quality of Life statute on noise pollution. If he wont learn, he will go bankrupt. Now then, how does this apply to Roanoke?
First, it means writing more tickets for failure to obey traffic rules. Too many people getting in too many accidents on a daily basis. I cannot tell you how many I see on a weekly basis that occur directly out my door. Cause? Ignorance. 9 out of 10 accidents I see are due to distracted driving, failure to obey rules of the road, and the ever-present "I'm more important than you" attitude. I cannot cross my street to go to the supermarket ( we have two lanes, one turns - the other goes straight; they have two lanes - same deal) without the person in the turn lane across from me turning before I have passed. Need I remind you that if I'm going straight, I have the right of way?
I have learned to hesitate a half-second to watch what the other person is going to do. Thats not defensive driving, thats accomidating the ignorant for your own safety. Also, its on the books I don't care what you say, when you get into an accident you are to pull off to the side of the road, or in the safest location that does not impede the flow of traffic. Now I know the police make the determination at scene as to who is at fault. They can do that in a parking lot just as well as in the middle of traffic. It's safer for them, for you, and for all the people driving by.
If police started issuing citations when situations like that arose (ie. an accident which is in the center lane of a road, and the involved parties remain in that lane, although a shoulder is available) people might start moving out of the way.
Mind you, I live directly across from Tanglewood, home of a Roanoke County PD substation, and still there are some of the worst drivers imaginable who go without being stopped.
Lawns, abandoned cars, and stuff like that will most certainly effect those who are living in run-down homes. However taking it to the streets for such things as improper headlights, windows tinted too dark, and those type things will impact the wallet far more often. If you are on patrol, and see someone toss a lit cigarette to the ground, ticket them for littering. Instantly you have established a presence, set a standard, and reinforced the rules.
As much as I would like to believe in Roanoke's participation in a program like this, the presence of the homeless at the Market leads me to think otherwise. They panhandle, harass, leer, drink publicly, and generally detract from the quality of the Market area. Now I am not saying to ship them to Vinton or something like that, what I am saying is - we have a Market area which we claim to "love." We have a group of people who hang around doing nothing, and having nothing done to them. Why not get them all simple uniforms, give them a broom or something and let them go around the Market to clean. It gives them something to do, a few dollars in their pocket, and in return we get a cleaner Market. And it can be a day to day thing, and only if the person wants to do it. But if they do not wish to participate - then they must clear the Market and find someplace else to spend the day.
That place should not be the library either. But that is another matter.
I am not a person without compassion, and I do believe that each person has value. But it's lax attitudes like this that led to the Hotel Earle fire back in 1991. And if Roanoke truly wants to present a modern image to the world when the Crack by the Tracks opens in 2007, it needs to move now to get everyone invested in the future of Roanoke.
Besides, Quality of Life tickets can be a great source of revenue for the city. But I'm not saying that out loud now am I?
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