Las Vegas Teens Gunned Down, High Crime Areas Not Being Patrolled

Clark County Metro gang unit is currently investigating a Las Vegas Valley shooting. Tuesday, three teens were gunned down at a Winchester Community and Community Center, injuring two boys and one girl. Clark County Police Department says that the shooting could have been prevented, however, the area had not been patrolled for gang activity since April.

In Las Vegas there are not enough metro officers to police the streets and all the areas where crime occurs. Also, metro police officers respond to their own service calls instead of other areas, therefore, many locations are not patrolled, particularly parks.

Clark County Park Police Association President Tim Polk told ABC Action News that violent incidents have increased in Clark County parks and the association’s 15 employees no longer patrol those areas.

Unfortunately, that means more youth being gunned down and dying in the streets because of lack of enforcement and patrol.

Authorities are currently looking for at least two suspects and say that there is a good chance the shooting was gang related.

Posted by:

Krysten Hughes

Are You Really Interested In Helping Us?

The violence is increasing in Columbus.  There has been 33 percent more murders in Columbus than a year ago, 61 at this point compared to 46 at this time last year.  It’s the end of July 2010 and the year is only halfway out. The most significant thing I feel that needs attention is the dramatic rise in homicide in the city of Columbus.

Katrel Parker was the latest victim of gun violence this year, and his being 16 years old is sadly not uncommon with the recent trend that has left a streak of families mourning these adolescent boys. What is even more disturbing than the rise in young violence is the collective response being proposed by our city officials.

On the front page of the Friday, July 23rd issue of the Columbus Dispatch, there is an article about the late Katrel Parker and the article was written with a journalist’s analysis of the violent summer in general. The title of the article reads “Mayor, police chief announce new ‘community response teams’ to combat growing violence.” I am baffled of how “combating” violence can be an effective strategy to stop the blood shed that has become common place. When I think “combat” the only thing that comes to mind is even more blood shed and incarcerations. The report appeared to remove the human element from the social conditions that leads to violence such as poverty and joblessness.   The manner in which this phenomenon has been reported leads me to believe that maybe the reporters, law enforcers and city officials are just as lost as the young men who are being plagued with violence.

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Kwesi Low

You Got To Be Kidding Me

Have people truly lost their minds? It seems that people find more and more pleasure in the suffering of others. If it was not for mean spirited jokes, there might not be any comedy at all. I am no different than anyone else, I have certainly laughed at a friend that took a spill (after I helped them up of course), but I wouldn’t try to record it and profit off of a low point in someone else’s life. Unfortunately for people who get locked up in Franklin County, everyone does not feel the same.

There is a weekly publication in my city called Slammer which displays anyone who has been jailed in the county in the previous seven days. For only $1, anyone who has the whim can pick up a copy of Slammer and know who is in jail and for what. There are even stories in it that highlight popular cases and they are often written in a humorous tone.  So I guess we shouldn’t be surprised to walk in any corner store in the ghetto and see some young brothers laughing about one of their boys having his face on the front page; each of them knowing that it could be either of them in next weeks.

I guess the problem is not the paper but the trend that makes the paper possible. The question is how to get those young brothers to start getting angry about their friend being arrested for whatever reason. What they do not realize is that they are the ones that can turn this entire thing around, my only question is how to get them to realize it.

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Kwesi Low

Khari Mosley on Bobby Scott, Youth PROMISE and Made in America: Crips & Bloods

In D.C. for the Youth PROMISE Day of Action, I was invited to watch the documentary “Crips and Bloods: Made in America”, (directed by Stacy Peralta and produced by actor Cash Warren and NBA superstar Baron Davis) at a special screening hosted by Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) on Capitol Hill. The screening was held to kickoff a series of events in support of the Youth Promise Act national day of actio.

As I watched the film, I couldn’t help but think about my favorite line from the seminal 70s gang movie, The Warriors. It was the unforgettable line Cyrus delivered during his legendary speech: “Miracles are the way things ought to be.”

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Khari Mosley