It has been a very violent week so far in Jacksonville

[Ken_FSU]

I reside within Duval County in a neighborhood full of guns ……and No Gun “ Violence” .
The vast majority of guns in the area apparently well behaved.
Why??

Another poorly behaved gun in Jax tonight.

9 year old shot multiple times by a 6 year old.

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/crime/2023/10/01/police-say-9-year-old-jacksonville-boy-might-have-been-shot-by-sibling/71025305007/

[pierre]

This makes three children under 10 shot in three separate incidents in Jacksonville, all in just the past week. The other two died but this 9 year old seems to not have life threatening injuries.

I cannot remember shootings this close to each other and involving victims this young.

[Ken_FSU]

Another man in his 20s dead by gunfire, with a second man shot.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/morning-show/2023/10/03/man-in-20s-dead-another-injured-after-double-shooting-in-northwest-jacksonville-jso-says/

[Ken_FSU]

Guess what happened in Jacksonville last night?

More people got shot with guns.

One man dead after being shot by police because he was recklessly playing with a gun in a strip mall parking lot:

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/10/04/one-person-dead-after-officer-involved-shooting-on-jacksonvilles-westside/

A teenage boy, and I presume his father, were shot by four men robbing their house:

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/10/04/man-teen-shot-during-robbery-in-jacksonvilles-paxon-neighborhood/

Though it's overly simplistic to pin all the blame on the guns, and it's overly simplistic to blame all of the violence on education, poverty, and culture, it's pretty clear that in the absence of guns, all of these situations in the last week may have turned out much differently.

[Ken_FSU]

Guess what happened in Jacksonville this morning?

Another kid (14 years old) shot.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/10/05/14-year-old-shot-several-cars-burglarized-in-springfield-thursday-morning/

[BridgeTroll]

I am stuck with Atlanta local tv news. Violence is off the charts in Atlanta… most of the news telecast is about the shootings. Police beg for cooperation to arrest the perps but silence from “ the community “.  Mostly gang and drug related with innocent people in the crossfire.

[thelakelander]

Shows the big rift and lack of trust the authorities have with their respective communities. Many are afraid of the criminal element, the police and potential retribution. The current way of things doesn't work. Time to try something new that begins to tackle the cause, as opposed to focusing primarily on the outcome.

[Ken_FSU]

Man, there is something in the air lately that I just haven’t seen before in Jacksonville.

Was outside of Publix at Kernan and Beach earlier today and a homeless dude approached me. Said that he wasn’t a bum, but that he couldn’t get a job because he’d done ten years in jail for second degree murder for shooting his ex-girlfriend’s secret boyfriend in the head. He asked me for money. When I told him I didn’t have any cash, he said he goes from 0 to 60 when people lie to him, and motioned to his hip like he had a gun in his pants. Gave him some change from my car, and the store manager called it in.

Was back at the same Publix tonight. Five cop cars and two fire trucks outside. Cashier refused to sell some crazy dude beer and he lost his mind, ran through the store threatening people, ripped off all of his clothes, and started running naked through the parking lot.

Just bonkers out there.

[BridgeTroll]

Shows the big rift and lack of trust the authorities have with their respective communities. Many are afraid of the criminal element, the police and potential retribution. The current way of things doesn't work. Time to try something new that begins to tackle the cause, as opposed to focusing primarily on the outcome.

Great. Just what are these new ways of doing things?  We have been trying " new things " for decades. Old things...like cooperating with police works in other communities. Protecting criminals because snitching is taboo is getting people killed and letting criminals repeat and repeat and repeat... generally killing and robbing the very people who protected them from arrest.

[thelakelander]

^Same stuff that's been said for years. Investing in communities and stimulating them inclusively economically and educationally. It took us a long time to get to this point and it will take us a long time to get out of it. Policing is only one small component of it. Building trust in communities where trust has never been (and for a variety of reasons, if we're willing to go back, dive into and understand their histories with these same entities) is something that won't come without getting serious and transparent about the other component. You have to also fight crime with economics, respect and transparency.

For every step moved forward, there are two steps moved back when people see kids looking like this after an arrest....and this took place in the Southside. Those who don't fully acknowledge the history or downplay it, see things one way, while others on the short end of the stick of history, see it in a different fashion. The result, combined with a lot of other things we still need to address, is a lack of trust:

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/local/after-viral-arrest-video-naacp-legal-defense-fund-doj-probe-jso-gang-unit-closed/77-25f470ab-e7c9-433c-98b0-701388a3d8eb

[thelakelander]

I happen to be in Atlanta right now. I know this is a big issue of contention between city leaders, law enforcement and the Atlanta community:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-10-04/-cop-city-referendum-aims-to-repeal-planned-atlanta-police-training-center

[Ken_FSU]

Two more dead last night.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/10/07/2-men-found-shot-to-death-in-car-near-moncrief-road-jso/

[BridgeTroll]

^Same stuff that's been said for years. Investing in communities and stimulating them inclusively economically and educationally. It took us a long time to get to this point and it will take us a long time to get out of it. Policing is only one small component of it. Building trust in communities where trust has never been (and for a variety of reasons, if we're willing to go back, dive into and understand their histories with these same entities) is something that won't come without getting serious and transparent about the other component. You have to also fight crime with economics, respect and transparency.

For every step moved forward, there are two steps moved back when people see kids looking like this after an arrest....and this took place in the Southside. Those who don't fully acknowledge the history or downplay it, see things one way, while others on the short end of the stick of history, see it in a different fashion. The result, combined with a lot of other things we still need to address, is a lack of trust:

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/local/after-viral-arrest-video-naacp-legal-defense-fund-doj-probe-jso-gang-unit-closed/77-25f470ab-e7c9-433c-98b0-701388a3d8eb

Sooo... nothing new.  You say so yourself.  We have been doing all you listed for decades. Apparently more money must be thrown on the wall. Getting serious and transparent requires introspection from ALL communities. Everyone needs to be held accountable to solve this... even the ones that got the short end of the stick.

I am not hopeful nor encouraged....it is far easier to blame the guns...rofl...

[thelakelander]

No, we haven't truly addressed systemic issues in many of our communities. I'm currently working to help the Eastside with a culturally appropriate zoning overlay now. Lisc has been recently helping several neighborhoods finally tackle heirs property. Both will help significantly with economic opportunities and the ability to stimulate generational wealth. That's just two small examples of things that should have been done five decades ago. Neither involve money outside of removing policies that take money from the poor and leave them with less opportunity to generate income. Let's sit down for coffee one day. We can dive into the details behind the things most people ignore, don't know or choose not to see.

[BridgeTroll]

I would love to have coffee with you Ennis!  Unfortunately I now live 6 hours north of Jax. Perhaps in December?