Violent Crime: Not Just for Brown People Anymore

Just last week, Police Chief Charles Ramsey declared a "crime emergency" in my home town, our lovely nation's capitol. Fortunately for me and my irrational desire to be on the streets late at night, this city is no longer the murder capitol of the country, but it is still filled to the brim with crackheads and gangsters. It is right and proper that the city government takes 14 murders in as many days very seriously, but I have some nagging concerns about the reaction.

First, the primary response to the crime wave was to lower the curfew for teenagers to 10 pm. This is completely ridiculous. You can't just confine a large sector of the population to house arrest after dark because of a few murders. Human beings under the age of 18 are still human beings with all the rights pertaining thereto. They get stepped on because they have no electoral power, no public voice to defend themselves. These measures mean that people who want nothing more than to socialize and enjoy the summer nights (the only time when any sane person would be outdoors) will be harassed and fined by DC's finest.

Second, the city government enacting these policies is the same one that just this year violently opposed Congressional discussion of repealing DC's gun ban. Firearms are illegal in this city and yet many of the recent murders were committed with them. What does this tell us? That criminals have access to guns through the same black market connections that buy their stolen wares and provide them with drugs. Us law abiding (more or less) citizens are left unarmed, and the criminals know it. Rather than paying for more man-hours and police cruisers, we could allow the city's citizens to defend themselves. I always carry a blade when I go out, but as a wise man once said, "Never bring an knife to a gunfight." I dread the day some junkie decides he likes the look of my watch or my woman and I am powerless to stop him.

Finally, the only reason that these murders are big news is that some of the more brazen slayings occurred outside the poor and rundown black and Hispanic neighborhoods. They took place in the popular bar districts of Adams Morgan and Georgetown, places that are important for tourism, places that are visible, places that are filled with young, rich, white people. As a young rich white person myself, I suppose I shouldn't be complaining about the protection, but I can't help but feel that if all these killings had been in Anacostia where they usually are, there would be no talk of an emergency, just a busy couple of weeks for the cleanup crews.

This city is so messed up, I don’t even know where to begin fixing it.