Cleveland had the USA's 5th highest murder rate in the first half of 2017. Cincinnati was 9th and Columbus 21st.

https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/murder-map-deadliest-u-s-cities/57/

Cleveland had the USA's 5th highest murder rate in the first half of 2017. Cincinnati was 9th and Columbus 21st.

https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/murder-map-deadliest-u-s-cities/57/

 

It would be interesting to adjust these numbers to reflect suspected gang related killings.  There's a couple active wars in the Cleveland area and a lot of the homicides fit that pattern.

Bad Tom Smith Brewing nears opening after break-ins

 

Posted on October 31, 2017 at 7:09 AM

 

Marc Bona, cleveland.com

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio - A pair of break-ins have delayed the launch of Bad Tom Smith Brewing in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood, but the owners are optimistic they can open in November.

This has been a challenging year for Vojtush and Gittins. They had planned to open around Memorial Day, but red tape between city inspectors and ownersdelayed that until September. Now, two break-ins have pushed back the opening yet again.

Thieves pilfered about $30,000 worth of equipment on Oct. 2 and Oct. 25, Vojtush said. Electronics, a commercial air-conditioning condenser, bar equipment, uninstalled security system and "a significant amount" of construction tools were stolen, he said.

 

The air-conditioning unit alone cost $5,500 and weighted about 300 pounds, he said.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2017/10/bad_tom_smith_brewing_nears_op.html

Hmmm, that sounds like their contractors- they knew right what they wanted, when it arrived, and how to remove it all.

The election's over, one of the main issues goes on.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/11/two_shot_in_clevelands_hough_n.html

 

Link also includes a story about a murder in South Collinwood Sunday morning.

Not sure if this is in Ohio City, but it's distasteful as hell.

 

http://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/iconic-cleveland-mural-vandalized-community-rallies-for-restoration

Clark and Pearl Road. Just blocks from Metro

With the continued violence in Cleveland, notably the 6 children shot over the weekend on the East Side, it's time for Cleveland to follow the lead of Chicago which is starting to make a dent in its South Side violence. In the Windy City, police are policing again, using new shot spotter technology in troubled districts, getting a better handle on OT, and getting better management from brass.

It seems as though there has been a shooting a day recently in Cleveland; the shooting on Buckeye involving the young child made national news. 

 

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/11/man_dies_after_being_shot_in_h_1.html

It seems as though there has been a shooting a day recently in Cleveland; the shooting on Buckeye involving the young child made national news. 

 

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/11/man_dies_after_being_shot_in_h_1.html

Abdel's killing made national news because he was clearly an innocent bystander.  All the violent crime in Cleveland (and one in Euclid) the last few days fit the "gang war" pattern on the surface except for the young woman killed on the near west side. 

 

The typical resident or visitor isn't in any more danger of being individually targeted than they were in the recent past.

^ weren't there some high level gang arrests in the last year or so.  That usually leads to a lot of violence as everyone jockeys for position.

^ weren't there some high level gang arrests in the last year or so.  That usually leads to a lot of violence as everyone jockeys for position.

 

Just like in the old mob days except the mob usually hit their own or their enemies pretty efficiently and didn't create much human collateral damage (ie. 12 year old boys).

 

^ weren't there some high level gang arrests in the last year or so.  That usually leads to a lot of violence as everyone jockeys for position.

 

Mostly it's extramural (HF vs LA, to abbreviate) but there's some internal fighting among the former now.

All of Ohio's big cities are seeing a disturbing amount of shootings/homicides.  I read last week that Columbus is close to setting an all-time high for murders in a year. 

I really don't understand the rising trend of murders.  With all the digital info out there and technology to aid in policing, it seems hard to believe that police can't get the main offenders off the streets.  Stem the flow of guns & drugs.

I really don't understand the rising trend of murders.  With all the digital info out there and technology to aid in policing, it seems hard to believe that police can't get the main offenders off the streets.  Stem the flow of guns & drugs.

 

I think there is some difficulty in gang violence situations where innocent people are afraid to come forward for fear of retribution.  I think the Warrensville Hts. barber shop shooting was evidence for that because I think there were some early witnesses who became targets of violence.

I really don't understand the rising trend of murders.  With all the digital info out there and technology to aid in policing, it seems hard to believe that police can't get the main offenders off the streets.  Stem the flow of guns & drugs.

 

The heroin epidemic is causing a huge turf battle between street level dealers and even the high-level suppliers.  I'd expect the trend to continue unless we can reverse the demand of heroin across the state.  Ohio is ground zero for heroin ODs.

I really don't understand the rising trend of murders.  With all the digital info out there and technology to aid in policing, it seems hard to believe that police can't get the main offenders off the streets.  Stem the flow of guns & drugs.

 

The heroin epidemic is causing a huge turf battle between street level dealers and even the high-level suppliers.  I'd expect the trend to continue unless we can reverse the demand of heroin across the state.  Ohio is ground zero for heroin ODs.

 

The only way that's going to happen is if the state (and feds) quit making it more difficult for doctors to properly treat pain using legally manufactured medications, but if anything the trend is in the opposite direction.

I really don't understand the rising trend of murders.  With all the digital info out there and technology to aid in policing, it seems hard to believe that police can't get the main offenders off the streets.  Stem the flow of guns & drugs.

 

I think there is some difficulty in gang violence situations where innocent people are afraid to come forward for fear of retribution.  I think the Warrensville Hts. barber shop shooting was evidence for that because I think there were some early witnesses who became targets of violence.

 

Exactly.  This was an HF hit on some LA affliliates.

I really don't understand the rising trend of murders.  With all the digital info out there and technology to aid in policing, it seems hard to believe that police can't get the main offenders off the streets.  Stem the flow of guns & drugs.

 

The heroin epidemic is causing a huge turf battle between street level dealers and even the high-level suppliers.  I'd expect the trend to continue unless we can reverse the demand of heroin across the state.  Ohio is ground zero for heroin ODs.

 

A conversation needs to be had about legalization.

I really don't understand the rising trend of murders.  With all the digital info out there and technology to aid in policing, it seems hard to believe that police can't get the main offenders off the streets.  Stem the flow of guns & drugs.

 

The heroin epidemic is causing a huge turf battle between street level dealers and even the high-level suppliers.  I'd expect the trend to continue unless we can reverse the demand of heroin across the state.  Ohio is ground zero for heroin ODs.

 

A conversation needs to be had about legalization.

 

Legalization of...?

I really don't understand the rising trend of murders.  With all the digital info out there and technology to aid in policing, it seems hard to believe that police can't get the main offenders off the streets.  Stem the flow of guns & drugs.

 

The heroin epidemic is causing a huge turf battle between street level dealers and even the high-level suppliers.  I'd expect the trend to continue unless we can reverse the demand of heroin across the state.  Ohio is ground zero for heroin ODs.

 

The only way that's going to happen is if the state (and feds) quit making it more difficult for doctors to properly treat pain using legally manufactured medications, but if anything the trend is in the opposite direction.

 

I think the issue with prescription opiods is that it is usually where the addiction begins.  That being said, I don't have any solution.

I really don't understand the rising trend of murders.  With all the digital info out there and technology to aid in policing, it seems hard to believe that police can't get the main offenders off the streets.  Stem the flow of guns & drugs.

 

The heroin epidemic is causing a huge turf battle between street level dealers and even the high-level suppliers.  I'd expect the trend to continue unless we can reverse the demand of heroin across the state.  Ohio is ground zero for heroin ODs.

 

A conversation needs to be had about legalization.

 

Legalization of...?

 

Heroin.

Might as well legalize murder and rape while you're at.

Might as well legalize murder and rape while you're at.

 

Did you know that heroin is legal in Canada?

Might as well legalize murder and rape while you're at.

 

Did you know that heroin is legal in Canada?

 

And drug overdoses are considered murder in Canada.

Might as well legalize murder and rape while you're at.

 

Did you know that heroin is legal in Canada?

 

And drug overdoses are considered murder in Canada.

 

Now that I didn't know.

 

Anyhow there is precedent for legalization in other places like Portugal and Switzerland. It appears the approach has significantly lowered the rates of violent crime we are seeing in Cleveland and in other cities that are associated with the drug trade.

And if you remove the speed limit, you don't have to give speeding tickets.  If you let woman sell themselves as prostitutes, you don't have to arrest them or the Johns.  And if you let people kill people, you don't have to arrest people for murder. 

 

End of the day, laws are laws to keep people in this country sane and have us all live in a civilized nation.  We can't just let people do what they wish as a solution to a problem.  We need to fight crime, enforce laws, and kill the epidemics.  There will always be crime, but its the job of government funded safety departments and the criminal justice system to reduce levels. 

And if you remove the speed limit, you don't have to give speeding tickets.  If you let woman sell themselves as prostitutes, you don't have to arrest them or the Johns.  And if you let people kill people, you don't have to arrest people for murder. 

 

End of the day, laws are laws to keep people in this country sane and have us all live in a civilized nation.  We can't just let people do what they wish as a solution to a problem.  We need to fight crime, enforce laws, and kill the epidemics.  There will always be crime, but its the job of government funded safety departments and the criminal justice system to reduce levels. 

 

I just pointed out how other countries are dealing with the epidemic. Did Canada undo their laws against speeding and murder? I agree it's the job of the government to reduce crime, and one way they can do that is to destroy the black market for drugs. We are dealing with an addiction epidemic that can be addressed in a civilized manner. Or we can do what we have been doing...carrying on a costly and inefficient drug war that literally fuels the criminal underworld; a war that's unwinnable. 

Might as well legalize murder and rape while you're at.

 

Did you know that heroin is legal in Canada?

 

And drug overdoses are considered murder in Canada.

 

To clarify, authorities in some parts of Canada sometime prosecute dealers for manslaughter in certain circumstances, which also happens in the U.S.

Demographically, Hamilton, Ontario is very similar to Cleveland. It's an old steel town trying to modernize in the global, digital age. Hamilton has 537,000 people. Cleveland has less than 400,000 in its core city. A few years ago, Hamilton convened a task force when murders more than doubled from the average of seven per year to 15. Again, that included drug overdoses.

 

Why should drug usage be considered a crime? We legalized alcohol and heavily tax tobacco products. How do you afford treating chemical addiction/abuse if you can't tax it? How do we afford having the most people in prison among OEDC countries, most of whom are there for drug offenses? I thought we want small government and lower taxes, or is this more a way to scapegoat poor people and minorities?

At least in the US, the origin of drug laws as well as the "War on Drugs" definitely have significant xenophobic and racial overtones. Outside of Trump supporters - and frankly their opinions are on par with Holocaust Revisionists - most rational people would agree with that on some level.

 

That said, a society that permits the legal purchase of all drugs effectively is complicit if not enabling mass suicide. Forget just cocaine and heroin, people would be able to purchase formerly prescriptive narcotics like Vicodin, Oxycontin, Propofol, Metahdone, Dilaudid etc, that utterly change one's physiology, and we would have mass casualties and enormous collateral damage making today's outbreaks the "good old days".

The other problem with criminalizing drugs is that users get felony records and career options become scarce.  Then they stop caring about civil society, because for them there's no way back into it.  Then we have zombies running around.

The crazy thing is the same people that want to ban soft drinks and saturated fat products from restaurants because of the declining health amongst Americans, want to legalize drug use.  I'm pretty sure that legalizing heroin, cocaine and other hard drugs would coincide with an increase in health care costs...a problem this country has been facing for the past several years. 

 

 

^ holy strawman Batman.

^ holy strawman Batman.

I'm really not trying to argue with anyone with my post, I'm just sick of the double standards.  It's almost gives the impression that we don't know what to do.  We have the debates about legalizing recreational use of marijuana (which by the way I don't know where I stand on that).  For the past 30 years, we have made it borderline impossible, and taboo, to smoke cigarettes, while at the same time, we're trying to make it easier to smoke pot.  And the argument about cigarettes was that its bad for peoples health, and others health due to second hand smoke.  However, legalizing marijuana, and other drugs, would also cause health implications on Americans making our problems that we have now, even worse.  I really don't think the answer in solving crime is just to legalize, there has to be a better way. 

^ The fact that people want to highly regulate things that cause health problems is not at odds with legalizing highly regulating other items that cause health problems.  The idea of legalizing drugs is to handle the drug epidemic as the public health issue that is rather than a criminal one.  There is no inconsistency at all.

What I wonder though is if we legalize opiods, for instance, but then highly regulate them to make them difficult to obtain outside of medical reasons, has anything really changed? People who want to use these drugs recreationally will likely still have to go through the black market to obtain them. While we reduce the criminal sentencing for users (which I'm for), we still have to stop the illegal distribution and sale of drugs through non-legal channels. So does anything really change about how we handle that? And, we still have the addiction problem that we have to address. Legalizing doesn't seem to address that problem.

^ I don't know the intricacies of how regulation could work but I am just commenting that wanting to remove drugs from the criminal system into the health system is at no way at odds with how cigarettes or even unhealthy foods should be regulated.

^ The fact that people want to highly regulate things that cause health problems is not at odds with legalizing highly regulating other items that cause health problems.  The idea of legalizing drugs is to handle the drug epidemic as the public health issue that is rather than a criminal one.  There is no inconsistency at all.

I'm not sure how this handles the drug epidemic.  If they're made legal, then current abusers/addicts will remain addicted.  Maybe I'm reading the second sentence of your comment wrong. 

^ They may or may not remain addicted but the "punishment" for the addiction will be removed.  Essentially, putting an addict in prison will do nothing and in fact makes the situation worse especially if the addict receives a felony conviction.  In a legalization/regulation structure, the "punishment" would be treatment without criminal charges.  In the current scenario, the addict gets a felony charge making it difficult to impossible to get employment in the future, the addict is removed from his family and community where he/she may be needed and semi-productive otherwise.  In a legalization scenario, the addict is treated in a hospital with hopes of them possibly recovering.

^ The fact that people want to highly regulate things that cause health problems is not at odds with legalizing highly regulating other items that cause health problems.  The idea of legalizing drugs is to handle the drug epidemic as the public health issue that is rather than a criminal one.  There is no inconsistency at all.

I'm not sure how this handles the drug epidemic.  If they're made legal, then current abusers/addicts will remain addicted.  Maybe I'm reading the second sentence of your comment wrong. 

 

That's a good point. I'd call getting rid of the black market step one. Step two would be to take that "war on drugs" money and invest in a new infrastructure to treat addiction. I'd love to see a city like Cleveland (my attempt to keep on topic!) be an innovator in this approach. But the Feds don't want to give up any autonomy on this because it threatens their power structure. 

I really don't understand the rising trend of murders.  With all the digital info out there and technology to aid in policing, it seems hard to believe that police can't get the main offenders off the streets.  Stem the flow of guns & drugs.

 

The heroin epidemic is causing a huge turf battle between street level dealers and even the high-level suppliers.  I'd expect the trend to continue unless we can reverse the demand of heroin across the state.  Ohio is ground zero for heroin ODs.

 

The only way that's going to happen is if the state (and feds) quit making it more difficult for doctors to properly treat pain using legally manufactured medications, but if anything the trend is in the opposite direction.

 

I think the issue with prescription opiods is that it is usually where the addiction begins.  That being said, I don't have any solution.

 

Heroin addiction starts when people can’t get the legally manufactured pain meds anymore, often due to the various levels of government making it tougher to prescribe them to “prevent abuse”.  People won’t simply sit there in pain or withdrawl, lest the bureacrats and their policies be disturbed.  They will reach for alternatives, regardless of risk. 

 

The vast majority of accidental ODs come from illicitly manufactured drugs.

 

^ the opioid addiction begins with the over-prescription of pain meds.  I was given 20 opioid pills (with 2 refills) when I had a wisdom tooth removed.  I was in pain for 1 day and needed two of the pain killers out of 60 I was "entitled" to.  Doctors get nice perks from big pharma when they sell their meds.  Perhaps, helping people actually fix whatever pain is going on is better than selling pills to mask the pain.

^ the opioid addiction begins with the over-prescription of pain meds.  I was given 20 opioid pills (with 2 refills) when I had a wisdom tooth removed.  I was in pain for 1 day and needed two of the pain killers out of 60 I was "entitled" to.  Doctors get nice perks from big pharma when they sell their meds.  Perhaps, helping people actually fix whatever pain is going on is better than selling pills to mask the pain.

 

This is absolutely not true.  Doctors do not receive anything from "big pharma."  In fact in this day and age, the FDA has cracked down so much on them they cannot even give doctors the free pens and paper you're probably used to seeing in their offices.  One of the great myths of social media.....

 

 

Big Pharma gives your doctor gifts. Then your doctor gives you Big Pharma’s drugs.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/big-pharma-gives-your-doctor-gifts-then-your-doctor-gives-you-big-pharmas-drugs/2017/06/13/5bc0b550-5045-11e7-b064-828ba60fbb98_story.html?utm_term=.7b7e07c2ea4c

In fairness, there are plenty of heroin and opioid users with no legitimate excuse.  That's just how they party.  And they're idiots.  But I still don't believe it should be treated as a crime.  Mandatory treatment is a more effective and economical approach, even when most addicts need several rounds of it.  And you can't expect to keep your kids around if you choose to live as an addict.

One man crime wave, which began right by me.  I heard the shots from the carjacking attempt right after the news of the first victim came over NE Ohio Scan

 

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/12/cleveland_man_charged_in_deadl_9.html#incart_river_home

^ it ended right by me.

Rolled through my neighborhood in the process.  The PD should illustrate his travels, a la Family Circus.