In Our Back Yard: Chester’s State of Emergency
James DuganThere are signs when one should move. There may be some break-ins down the block or a couple of cars vandalized. There also may be poor scores in the public education system that may lead one to believe that social services and crime prevention will rise, wealthier families will flee for better schools and safety, and thus higher taxes will be needed to compensate for the shrinking tax base and eroding quality of life. Signs that one should move are most often emotional and subjective, but not when a city just crumbles to its collective knees that is less than a few miles away. When this happens, you might be in for a tough real estate market.
Chester's State of Emergency should be a shock for everyone living in the Philadelphia area. It should shock Harrisburg and Washington, DC. This is not a natural disaster zone or one that was decimated by the recent recession. This is not an area new to violence, drugs, poor schools, and declining tax revenue. This is a city that has been on life support since the industrial revolution left 30 years ago. What should be so shocking is that it is a city out of control. It is a city so out of control that they needed to declare a State of Emergency that the Mayor hopes to hold for the next 30 days. The violence has risen to such a crescendo that unheard of measures of limiting people’s movement, increasing overtime for police, and shutting down the democratic process are now in place.
With the recent William Cleary article about the state of Afghanistan on the site, the actions in Chester, PA are even more disturbing. This is a battle with no spin at all because the people of the Philadelphia and Delaware County areas expect anti-social behavior to exist within the city limits. We read the happenings of Chester as if they were as far away or as connected to us as Kabul. But when a State of Emergency is declared and no course of action is laid out to solve the crisis other than the declaration, the people of the area must be concerned. With the affluent areas surrounding the city on the river, the hemmed in violence and social ills may be gaining such mass that the poison of Chester’s streets will begin to take its toll and result in the next great exodus.
So you can not ignore a State of Emergency like you could when the schools were taken over, taken back, given away to charters, and then given back. You can not ignore the political quagmire of making an entire city of 7 miles an Empowerment Zone and the only businesses that have moved in creating jobs are a casino and soccer team, who paid for their field with state funds. The state and county want nothing to do with the social ills of the city. So much so that it has allowed a State of Emergency to be declared with no natural disasters or war. It is an utter embarrassment to the Philadelphia region and Pennsylvania legislature including Ed Rendell. If there is no one left to blame, then there is really no stopping this violence and fear from reaching the rest of the area.
But probably there will be no more homes up for sale than there was on Friday in Delaware County. People will read the articles and headlines and shake their heads, as if Chester was thousands of miles away. Mayor Nutter will head down to the Gulf shore. Ed Rendell will hideout in Philadelphia for the 4th of July celebrations. And life or the lack there of, will continue in Chester. The ills of Chester are our problem, and if we do not see a State of Emergency as a wakeup call, well we could at least use it as an opportunity to explore a new home, this time way up in Chester County.
Reader Comments (6)
This piece serves as an interesting contrast to your lighter Summer in You one. I wonder if the people of Chester read your earlier post and wished for a summer without debilitating violence, excessive police presence, and near martial law. I wonder if they asked for one summer without only being known as the most violent place outside of Philadelphia to Pennsylvanians, if they're even known at all. I wonder if the parents and children just asked to be normal, for once, and not have to worry about a friend, family member, or themselves getting shot or killed every time they go out to play. I can not imagine a worse situation than the one that exists in Chester right now. There are only 33,000 people that live there, which mean they actually have a higher murder rate per-capita than Philadelphia and most other major cities nation wide. This is sickening. So I understand the mayor's actions and applaud him for making such a decision. Maybe now people will pay attention and realize this really is their own back yard.
Well written James. "Fair and Balanced" even... As always, I'm going to be hyperbolic in my response, because this is an issue I have strong feelings about.
"Give me Liberty, or give me Death" - Patrick Henry
Am I the only one in this cowardly country that takes those words to heart? Martial law was just declared 30 minutes from my house and it's receiving minimal coverage. People are not allowed to gather in groups of more than 3. No one out after 6 pm. Cops can stop anyone at any time for any reason and ask for identification, etc. There is a whole list of civil liberties that have been taken away - all because of a few deaths, one of which happens to be a child.
Are we such, as George Carlin once said, "diaper sniffers" that we go crazy every time something bad happens to a child? Look at the world. God doesn't seem to give a damn about children. They routinely starved, killed in "ethnic cleansing", are buried in landslides, etc. However, parents in the USA are such neutered wannabe breeders that we throw away our rights whenever someone cries "think of the children." I always respond, "f*** your kid and f*** you too."
Oh no, is the internet safe enough for kids? Is TV safe for kids? Must we implement a parental advisory system to protect them from music? etc. Here's where the LIBERTARIAN in me comes out. If you are sooo worried about the world you are bringing a kid into, do the ballsy thing: choose not to breed. Yeah, the world sucks, It's no place for a child. So what? Don't breed. Simple as that. What pisses me off is when people wanna take away MY rights to protect their stupid, drooling, inbred kids. Once again, and this is my mantra, "f*** your kids, and f*** you too!"
So what, a few people died in Chester county. Does that mean we must declare martial law? So what, a few people are dead. Bury them and move on. Hire more cops, if you must (I hate cops, but they are a necessary evil), but DO NOT DECLARE MARTIAL LAW. That is anathema to the spirit of freedom, to the spirit of liberty. Grow some balls America and deal with it. People die. Everyone who is reading this will, at some point, die. Get over it. I know some people like to maintain the idea that they'll live forever if only they can surrender enough of their civil liberties, but it ain't gonna happen...
If anyone wants to respond, "what if it happened in YOUR neighborhood." Well, I'd buy a gun. I'd exercise my 2nd amendment rights and buy a gun to defend myself. I think a fully armed population would be the best insurance against A) crime and B) the tyranny of government... but that's another lecture entirely
Shaman,
I think you raise an interesting point about how we cater too much to the whole "Protect the Children'" beyond reasonable or logical means. God forbid a child hears a curse word, plays a shoot em up video game or eats a cupcake these days. My wife is a school teacher and can rant for 5 hours about all the things she cannot do or say or display in a classroom b/c of this PC nonsense. [Pretty much a Christmas Tree Decoration in her school would draw the same reaction from the administration as that of a Pam Anderson Playboy Centerfold.] I think though, in this case, the situation in Chester goes beyond save the kids.
While I am against Big Gov't in our lives, I do believe that one of the purpose it should serve is to keep its citizens safe. And when local authorities cannot do the job, stronger forces may need to be called in. Let's be honest, I do some work in Chester and it looks like a Hollywood set for a Post_Apocalyptic Horror film. It has been ngelected and forgotten about since Industry began leaving 30+ years ago. We all drive along 95 and can see from the highway the run down tenements and housing. However, I always wonder why humans choose to live in such squalor...when does it become the responsibility fo the citizens in the area to standup and not allow this to happen. I am not saying they need to take to the streets with guns and push the dealers out but simple things tlike not having trash collect in their yards and at leats attempting to make their neighborhood somehwat more cosmeticcally attractive. Malcolm Gladwell in his book "The Tipping Point" made a discussion about how ensuring the subways and certain neighborhoods in NYC remain clean and free from grafitti helped stem the tide of rising crime. If something looks like shit, people have no problems shitting on it. If everyone in Chester began taking some pride in where they live maybe it would nto have come to this. This being, a higher level of givernment saying that we are not going to let a town 30 minutes from Philadelphia become a warzone like a 3rd world country.
This is almost a mirror/opposite image of what is happening in Arizona. There, the locals got fed up with the gov't not doing anything to secure their borders so they took matters into their own hands. here in chester, the locals don;t seem to care what has happned to their neighborhood so the authorities have stepped in to correct it.
I for the first time am contemplating going to a shooting range. It is clear that the problem in Chester and in many areas in the Philadelphia area that the police and social institutions are not creating citizens that respect property or life. This is not a new phenomenon as CJ states, it is people who have lost respect for society in their quest for greed and power. Greed, if it comes in drugs or ponzi schemes or pilfering millions of dollars from a university as in the news from LaSalle today, is creating a vacuum of trust that one must standup in and protect the way of life.
As you all have said, the city of Chester can not declare a state of emergency and we sit back and say that is fine. This declaration is a violation of US citizens rights and whether if it is for the good, it is clear the police and government are not doing enough to keep us and the people of Chester safe from violent crime. So we must do it ourselves, even if it is a few miles away, we must take actions to protect from the drug greed and crime that is exploiting a understaff and overworked law enforcement agency.
It was a ridiculous call to declare a state of emergency but it is done. Now there is another murder during the action, where is the outrage? Perhaps it is time to protect ourselves in any way possible if we are truly given to democracy -- and if we are not, then as Shaman suggests, this is no place or country for children.
Dugan,
I am so at the point now where I truly believe if we decided to legalize drugs in this nation that we would end a great deal of the crime that is happening and destroying our cities. I think it would also halt a great deal of the crime and outrage that is happening with the unsecured borders between the US and Mexico.
This "War on Drugs" has been so one sided and cost so many billions of dollars in a fruitless effort. It is time to figure out a better way and force these gangs out of business.
I love to see intelligent debate. This rocks. I get none of it in my grad classes cuz my professors are morons (my professor contradicted me last night, I went home, looked it up, and found I was right!!!).
As for the drug legalization, YES!! Did you know that we could cut the mexican drug cartels' profits by 60% just by legalizing marijuana? That's where most of their profits come from (cocaine is responsible for the rest).
It's simple supply and demand. As long as there is a demand for drugs, there will always be people willing to supply those drugs - despite the legal and bodily risks. It creates a black market, totally unregulated. At least if we legalized marijuana, we could tax it (like cigarettes), and regulate it, thus making sure that no one gets injured by taking an inferior or "laced" product. We could create jobs (marijuana growers and sellers), we could treat alcoholism (I know people who have quit drinking by having a daily toke of weed at the end of the day), my mom could treat her glaucoma, etc. There are sooo many benefits to legalizing marijuana, and virtually no down-side...
I say legalize everything, but marijuana would be a good place to start...