Emotional Eruptions

As of this past Saturday, the 2009 homicide count in Philadelphia was reported as being 192. It might surprise you to learn that the count has fallen 30% from the number registered at this same time in 2007, when the constant wave of murders here led to our infamous nickname, "Killadelphia." According to police statistics, at the end of 2008, the total homicide count was 333, which was a 15% drop from the total count of 392 at the end of 2007. Overall, violent crime in Philadelphia has decreased by 5%, which is good news.

According to Mayor Michael Nutter, the drop in violent crime can be traced to a number of factors, including an increased police presence in neighborhoods, "Operation Pressure Point" (the intensive round-up-all-the-bad-guys law-enforcement effort on weekends), and increased citizen involvement. The mayor believes that the city still needs to "accelerate" its crime-fighting efforts in order to make it one of the nation's safest big cities. In order to get the local murder count down even lower, he feels that the city needs to focus on creating jobs, educating students, and putting ex-cons to work. In a recent statement, Mayor Nutter said, "There are still too many people being killed and we can do better."

For the most part, I agree with the mayor and the agenda that he would like the city to focus on will help to make things better. In addition, there are many other long-standing social and economic-ills that need to be addressed. Further, it goes without saying that the recession has only made a bad situation worse for many people who were already "behind the 8-ball". However, there is another issue related to senseless violence that is largely being ignored, not only in Philadelphia, but EVERYWHERE.

The police in Philadelphia have complained for many years that, contrary to popular opinion, drugs and other media-induced beliefs are not their most difficult challenge when it comes to the violence in this city. For example, in most cases, police already know where all of the drug "hot spots" are in the city and they can monitor them accordingly. This effort cuts down on the number of violent occurrences because most people involved with drugs generally want to keep a "low profile" anyway. As for many of the other media-induced beliefs for Philadelphia violence, some of them are too ridiculous and stereotypical to even waste time on.

More times than not, "emotional eruptions" between people that escalate into violence have set the stage for many of the assaults and murders that you hear about in the news. As a result, it would be foolish to think that these situations are unique only unto Philadelphia and large cities in general... and, even more specifically, to inner city/urban areas. These eruptions cannot be predicted or necessarily prevented so, the reality is, they can happen at any given time and ANYWHERE. Unfortunately, there isn't much that the police can do in such situations because they are often called to the scene after the damage has been done and a life or several lives have already been seriously affected or lost.

We need to face the fact that senseless violence is a major problem in this country period and whether you live in the suburbs, the mid-west, or Alaska... there is no safe hiding place from emotional eruptions between people or easy solutions to the problem. I'm even willing to say that this is not something that will be solved for us by our federal or local government, law enforcement, or any social-economic program. No, I fear that we must look inside ourselves for the answers that will solve this problem and, hopefully, lead to a solution. And, just in case you are still in doubt, here are two recent examples of what I'm talking about... and please, do take the time to note the location of these news stories. I think you will find that they did not occur in the city of Philadelphia. Then, ask yourself whether or not any "external" factors or persons could have prevented these "emotional eruptions" from happening.

1. PA Man Stabbed In Dispute Over Feeding A Dog

Annville, PA - A central Pennsylvania woman has been charged with fatally stabbing her live-in boyfriend of five years during a dispute that reportedly began as an argument over her feeding the dog before serving him dinner. Pamela Poorman, 55 years old, is charged with killing Larry Coletti, 51 years old, in Annville Township. Police said that the couple had come home with takeout food and began arguing, then physically fighting. Poorman told police that she picked up a knife to scare Coletti and then stabbed him. She later said she was being beaten and "had to stop it." Poorman was taken to Lebanon County Prison without bail.

2. Wal-Mart Worker Accused Of Beating Boss With A Bat

New Haven, CN - Police in New Haven accused a Wal-Mart worker of beating an assistant manager in a store aisle with an aluminum baseball bat after getting reprimanded for the second time in a few days. The police are still looking for the 26 year old suspect. They plan to charge him with first-degree assault and breach of peace. Police said that the worker grabbed the bat off of a shelf and hit the 29 year old assistant manager, George Freibott, nearly a dozen times, after Freibott wrote the worker up for poor job performance. Freibott suffered a possible broken arm and many bruises. Police said the store was closed to shoppers at the time.