Unsafe Cambridge Neighborhood

Posted July 17, 2014 10:18 AM ET; Last updated July 18, 2014 1:04 PM ET


Jane Jacobs

Jane Jacobs explained in her wonderful book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, that if you need police in your neighborhood it is not safe. Safe neighborhoods do not come from police presence. They are safe because of interested persons who live, work and pass through that neighborhood If persons do not watch who is in the neighborhood it becomes unsafe. Most crimes are committed by persons who do not live in the neighborhood. If only politicians read some books. 



Councilor Simmons admits that neighborhood residents sit on their front stoops. That is a major deterrent to crime. When they see a suspicious person they can speak up and/or call the police. 



But expecting civilians to "snitch" on criminals who brazenly commit murder is asking a lot. Read the awful story about 18-year-old Sarah Pearce who was convicted and served 12 years for a crime she did not commit.


Sarah Pearce

http://enoughroomvideo.blogspot.com/2014/07/idaho-woman-18-set-free-after-12-years.html An entire family knew she was innocent but refused to identify the guilty person because of fear. That is not only a local problem. Why do politicians expect young people to snitch on their colleagues when  police, politicians, doctors and lawyers do not snitch on their colleagues? To suggest that "a couple of dozen additional officers" should be assigned to one neighborhood is irrational.  On previous occasions Councilor Simmons lamented the presence of FBI and cameras in Cambridge, but suggested that there should be an officer on every corner. Her policy making needs re-evaluation.

[From article] A number of residents at the Pisani Center mentioned that they may spend hours on their front stoop and never see a uniformed officer.
[. . .]
I would like to see a couple of dozen additional officers walking the beat in Area Four,

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20140718/NEWS/140716740

Guest column: Preventing the ‘us versus them’ mentality towards police in Cambridge
By E. Denise Simmons
Posted Jul. 18, 2014 @ 10:04 am
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle


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[From article]

"I don't want to be afraid in my neighborhood," Cambridge City Councilor E. Denise Simmons said Thursday, July 10, at the Area Four Neighborhood Coalition meeting. "I want to be able to walk on my street anytime I want to. I want to be able to walk in my neighborhood and feel safe."
According to Denise Phillips, an Area Four resident, police officers used to walk the neighborhood several years ago, but that is just no longer the case.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20140716/NEWS/140717327

Area Four asks for more police presence after shooting
By Sara Feijo
Posted Jul. 16, 2014 @ 2:06 pm
Updated Jul 16, 2014 at 3:29 PM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

New York City Fights Against Safe City Image, Vies With Chicago

Posted June 29, 2014 8:29 PM ET; Last updated June 30, 2014 8:58 PM ET

http://nypost.com/2014/06/29/2-people-shot-dead-in-less-than-7-hours-in-nyc/

12 people shot in less than 7 hours in NYC
By Dana Sauchelli
New York Post
June 29, 2014 | 2:02pm

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[From article]
Four people were killed and another 19 were injured, including a 10-year-old boy walking home from the store, in a wave of shootings over the weekend that touched all five of New York City's boroughs.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/3-Dead-18-Shot-in-Rash-of-Weekend-Violence-in-NYC-265143411.html

4 Dead, 19 Wounded in NYC Weekend Shootings
The volume of shootings so far in 2014, however, is lower than it was last year, police say
By Michael George
Monday, Jun 30, 2014 | Updated 4:13 PM EDT

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http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/06/30/1-dead-35-wounded-in-weekend-shootings-across-chicago/

1 Dead, 35 Wounded In Weekend Shootings Across Chicago
June 30, 2014 7:35 AM

Foreign Countries Warn About Dangerous U.S. Cities

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/11/14/16-american-cities-foreign-governments-warn-their-citizens-about//?print=1

16 American cities foreign governments warn their citizens about
By Reid Wilson
Updated: November 14, 2013 at 4:34 pm

World Upside Down

http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/williamns080613.php3#.UgYWL900jDo

Jewish World Review
August 7, 2013/ 1 Elul, 5773
Would They Be Proud?
By Walter Williams

Cambridge Recalls Shooting Death in June 2012

Jane Jacobs's book The Death and Life of Great American Cities discusses what makes neighborhoods safe. Safety depends on people who live in the neighborhood, people who pass through it and people who live there. Police cannot make neighborhoods safe. Neighbors should know who lives in the neighborhood, and who does not. Much street crime is committed by people from other neighborhoods.

[From article]
“Young people were asked to think about what they can do to promote safety in their community and that’s what they wanted to do,” [Cambridge Peace Commissioner Brian] Corr said. “It was [. . .] the idea of having a [basketball] tournament and fun competition with a message of peace woven throughout.”

http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x551362574/3-months-after-Willow-St-shooting-in-Cambridge-community-reflects?zc_p=0#axzz25lwCRTLL

3 months after Willow St. shooting in Cambridge, community reflects
By Erin Baldassari/ebaldassari@wickedlocal.com
Cambridge Chronicle
Posted Sep 07, 2012 @ 07:00 AM
Last update Sep 07, 2012 @ 07:39 AM

New York City Policing

New York City Policing

[This letter was published in the New York Post on July 3, 2008.]

Community activist Aaron Biller laments that his neighborhood is down from 400 police officers to 100, and that "We're on our own." (Julia Vitullo-Martin, "1981 What went right could go wrong," NYPost, June 29, 2008, page 28) He says he needs the government to pay attention to the streetscape and to "give us back our cops." If police are needed the neighborhood is not safe. The people who live and work in the neighborhood make it safe or not. People make their streets safe by paying attention. When they leave safety to the police the streets cannot be safe. City guru Jane Jacobs wrote that in 1961 in "The Death and Life of Great American Cities." The needs of city streets have not changed since then. Safe neighborhoods require work and concern by ordinary people who use the neighborhood.

Roy Bercaw - Editor ENOUGH ROOM

Julia Vitullo-Martin
1981 What went right could go wrong
New York Post
June 29, 2008
page 28

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06282008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/revenge_of_the_bad_old_days_117615.htm?page=0