ACLU Crime Summit
Posted on October 3, 2006
Cross Posted from Revealing The ACLU: When I hear the term “Crime Summit” I think meetings to reduce crime, address citizen concerns, and enact citizen watch programs. Its seems the ACLU looks at these things a bit differently.
From Jackson NBC Channel 3 news:
Jackson residents learned more about their rights during a Community Crime Summit.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi held its second town meeting at the Eudora Welty Library.
In video presentations, residents learned how to react when stopped by police, their responsibilities as citizens and about the Cop Watch Program, which monitors the actions of law officers.
The organization says Jackson needs better trained police officers.
They say residents feel abused by officers and locked out of the decision making process.
Nsombi Lambright of the ACLU of Mississippi said, “In the city they feel like government is out of control and that people are not representing their best interests and they feel like there’s just a general lack of accountability.”
Residents also discussed establishing a civilian review board to monitor citizen complaints and police conduct.
So the ACLU sees the Crime Summit as a way to train people on how best to avoid arrest, make the job of law enforcement more difficult, and initiate a program to make sure the police are not (gasp!) enforcing the law.
I was particularly concerned over the comments from the ACLU with regard “government is out of control”. Now I am not a Jackson resident, in fact I have only been there once. So lets see what the facts have to say.
The most recent comparisons to the national crime averages are from 2004, and courtesy of Area Connect. They show that Jackson is worse off than the national average in every area except Aggravated assaults. Areas to note:
- Murder: Jackson is 5.3 times the national average
- Rape: Jackson is almost 3 times the national average.
- Auto Theft: Jackson is over 2.5 times the national average.
Comparing Jackson crime rates to big cities like New York City still puts Jackson way over the line.
More recent stats (2005), though not aligned to the national averages, can be found on the Jackson Police website; and most crimes show increases over the previous year.
Let me state that his is not a slam on Jackson. It is a lovely city that I would not hesitate to visit again. This is, however, an admonition to the Mississippi ACLU who, in the face of ever increases crime rates, think it is more important to watch those enforcing the crimes than those who are committing them.
This type of mentality is dangerous. It puts law enforcement at a disadvantage when dealing with the public, assumes corruption in the absence of any other evidence, and emboldens those who are actively looking to break the law.
The job of protecting a city like Jackson is hard enough. Jackson’s finest put there lives on the line daily to protect the cities residents and visitors – show a little respect.
» Filed Under ACLU, Illegal Activities, News
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6 Responses to “ACLU Crime Summit”
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Well, cops can be crooked as well. Did they show any evidence that crooked cops are a major problem? I’d like to see what they define as “out of control”.
This is the mentality that says…I’m not a criminal, I am a victim of an unjust system!
Out of control to the ACLU is law enforcement that is doing its job. To me it sounds like the city of Jackson is out of control and not the police officers.
New York city is not a fair city to compare the rates with as they are known to do a fairly good job at controlling crime by being tough on it. Liberals and Libertarians hate their policies.
I do not know if population density actually effects crime rate all that much.
I’m confused. What exactly do you oppose?
1. Recent court cases have decided that a citizen is obligated to present valid identification if there is reasonable suspicion that he was involved in or witnessed a recent crime. However, a citizen has very little obligation beyond that. I fail to understand why you would have a problem with someone attempting to clarify where those boundaries are.
2. What’s wrong with a “cop watch” program? Citizens are (or atleast are supposed to be) obligated to oversee the actions of their government. Law enforcement is most definitely included in this.
Personally, I disagree with the ACLU’s crime prevention philosphies. I will not judge whether their intentions are good or not, but the victim mentality approach to crime is just wrong in my opinion. You know the ACLU is not only against capital punishment in all cases, but actually against incarceration except for the most extreme cases? I just think they have stupid approaches towards crime.
Attaboy. Now that’s an unassailable position. You’ve exercised your right to disagree with someone, but you’re not foolish enough to presume to judge their intentions.
I don’t understand how the “victim mentality” is applicable to this article. Can you connect the dots for me?