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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMoment vicious mob beats firefighter walking his dog in Queens amid rising violent crime
Moment vicious mob beats firefighter walking his dog in Queens amid rising violent crime in the Big AppleThe firefighter, 44, was walking his Labradoodle Dylan, 3, in Juniper Valley Park in the Middle Village neighborhood of Queens around 9:55 p.m. on Friday.
Suddenly, the father-of-three was swarmed by 'at least 100 kids,' he told the New York Post - while one called out that it was 'Fight Night.'
snip...
Cops told the New York Post that the man was hit in the head with a glass bottle, and that no arrests have been made. His dog was saved by a Good Samaritan and not hurt during the attack.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9822259/Moment-vicious-mob-beats-man-walking-dog-Queens-amid-rising-violent-crime-Big-Apple.html
Reading this I think of ways to advocate for much needed reformation of policing in this country while avoiding and preventing rising lawlessness. Outside my paygrade, but business as usual and "defund the police" don't strike me as the sensible way forward.
jalan48
(13,836 posts)Fascism is happening in slow motion right before our eyes.
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,304 posts)Both the Post and the Daily Mail specialize in such approaches.
Devil Child
(2,728 posts)The tabloid rags will do what they do. I am thankful the injuries were minor and none to the dog, I found the rapid mob-formation and escalation more troubling than the outcome.
lapucelle
(18,185 posts)Both are reliable sources for straight up local news.
https://pix11.com/news/local-news/queens/man-attacked-by-queens-teens-to-hold-event-with-mayoral-candidate-sliwa/
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/video-group-of-teens-attacks-man-walking-dog-at-queens-park
The WPIX video shows the victim, and they report:
Here's a composite still from WPIX; mayoral candidates Eric Adams and Curtis Sliwa are on either side with a photo of the victim in the middle.
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While both the Daily Mail and the New York Post are known for sensationalism, I'm reluctant to quibble about whether the victim was "severely beaten" or simply beaten up by a bunch of kids while he was walking his dog in a park in his middle class, residential neighborhood in one of the boroughs.
Could this have been more horrible? Yes.
Was this horrible enough? Yes.
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,304 posts)read news critically. There's a huge difference in tone between the NYPost and Daily Mail stories, and the links you posted. And in the end, they say the same thing: Some young people menaced a man and then hit him with a bottle, knocking him to the ground. But an uncritical reading can give very different impressions about what the issue is.
lapucelle
(18,185 posts)https://abc7ny.com/sucker-punch-bronx-university-heights-man-punched/10473298/
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/suspect-randomly-knocks-out-woman-in-chinatown-in-broad-daylight/3083194/
https://pix11.com/news/local-news/manhattan/video-grand-central-woman-punched-unprovoked-attack/
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,304 posts)I mean, sure, the cops are definitely going to say they see an increase in an environment when people are talking about ways we don't need them. And when we echo their language around "ordinary people" and "middle class, residential neighborhoods" being targeted, we do their work for them.
lapucelle
(18,185 posts)some in what are considered hate crime attacks, others in random attacks in their own neighborhoods.
These are real attacks with real victims. What makes anyone think this is just "something cops are saying"? What nefarious work are local news reporters "doing for them" by reporting the news? Why is reporting that these are ordinary people in their own neighborhoods (rather than high crime areas or specific people who are being targeted by someone who knows them, or those who are assaulted during the commission of another crime, like a robbery) problematic? Do you think the NYPD is cooking the books?
I live in the metro area and my work brings me to the boroughs and the city itself. When it comes to the ways that people "don't need cops", this isn't one of them.
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Violent crime is up by 22%, according to the latest statistics from the NYPD. Just this past Memorial Day, there were several shootings - and one left an innocent 15-year-old dead.
"Our kids are dying at a rapid rate, we need your help," said Khayan Reed. Reed has lived on the tough streets and he's a success story. Now he is an outreach worker with Jacobi Medical Center's Stand Up to Violence (SUV) program.
snip==================================================================
"Let's figure out what led to the precipitation of that event, does that person have housing, are they adequately employed, are things OK at home," Ocasio-Cortez said.
In its seven years, it's been a success. "This year our SUV team has successfully decreased community shootings by 45% in our SUV target areas," said Dr. Noe Romo, with SUV-Jacobi Medical Center.
Progress has been made but there is so much more to be done to make others strong enough to get on the right path."If we come together as a community, I can assure you this can end," Reed said.
https://abc7ny.com/nyc-crime-suv-outreach-mental-health/10739751/
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,304 posts)budgets, the best way to deflect is to send out releases to friendly reporters that say things like
To be clear: Reporting about random crimes is not necessarily a "bad" thing. But the only response I ever see to it is MOAR COPS AND COP FUNDS, not responses about what we can do to prevent it, and that is objectively bad.
lapucelle
(18,185 posts)Here is the NYT reporting on the recently passed police budget:
The city decided to cancel the planned hiring of roughly 1,160 officers, and to shift monitoring of illegal vending, homeless people on the streets and school safety away from the police.
Advocates of overhauling the Police Department argued that the cuts did not go far enough. City Council members were divided; some agreed, while others contended that police funding should not be reduced when crime is rising.
Black folks want to be safe like everyone else, we just want to be respected, said Councilman I. Daneek Miller, co-chairman of the Councils Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, who opposed reducing the size of the Police Department. We cant allow folks from outside our community to lecture us about Black lives and what we need in our communities.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/nyregion/nypd-budget.html
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This is the crime statistics page at the NYC.gov website maintained by the Office of the Mayor.
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/stats/crime-statistics/crime-statistics-landing.page
This is a link to the NYPD CompStat portal.
https://compstat.nypdonline.org/2e5c3f4b-85c1-4635-83c6-22b27fe7c75c/view/89
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Here is a list of the local news and national news outlets that are reporting on the increase in crime, possibly because they are "lazy", or engaged in "access journalism", or unwitting victims of the NYPD "cooking the books". Or possibly because it is actually happening.
WINS
WPIX
WABC
WNCBC
WCBS
NPR
CNN
Newsweek
Gothamist
PBS
AP
AMNY
NYT
NYDN
Newsday
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Here is a June video of Senate Majority Leader Schumer and Representative Ocasio-Cortez with community leaders (all either concerned about the rise in crime or duped by the NYPD into doing their work for them) announcing their proposal for new federal funding to address the problem through broadening a successful community outreach program.
https://abc7ny.com/nyc-crime-suv-outreach-mental-health/10739751/
Devil Child
(2,728 posts)WhiskeyGrinder
(22,304 posts)We know cops lie. We also know people are experiencing crime. We also know that cops benefit hugely from a public perception of out-of-control crime ("superpredators," "wilding" and the story in the OP, "Fight Night" . We can work to prevent crime without being led by cops. That's all.
Treefrog
(4,170 posts)LuvLoogie
(6,905 posts)and posting them. It would be part of the investigation. Check texts for communications between the instigators.
Get ping information from cell towers near by.
Same as they are doing with the Capitol insurgent investigation. Use the tech.
These mobs use their cell phones to coordinate meetups.
Devil Child
(2,728 posts)Scrivener7
(50,901 posts)Rebl2
(13,442 posts)A lot of these random shootings and violence against people are done by trump people. They want crime to go up so they can blame Biden for it. Maybe you think I have lost it, but I would not put it past these trump supporters. They will do anything to make Biden and Democrats lose elections next year.
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,304 posts)The incidents are certainly hyped by "Trump people," though, and some Democrats will fall for it and agree that making crime and increased cop budgets into central election issues will be the way to win.
marybourg
(12,584 posts)for U.S. events.
lapucelle
(18,185 posts)Police are investigating and and details are developing.
1010 WINS (all news radio)
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/video-group-of-teens-attacks-man-walking-dog-at-queens-park
WPIX (Channel 11 News)
https://pix11.com/news/local-news/queens/man-attacked-by-queens-teens-to-hold-event-with-mayoral-candidate-sliwa/
WABC NY (Channel 7 Eyewitness News)
https://abc7ny.com/new-york-city-queens-attack-middle-village/10908165/
New York Daily News
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-fireworks-queens-beatdown-dog-walker-20210725-dtzi44bnpfe6ldxsffct6dd4za-story.html
marybourg
(12,584 posts)slants U.S. news in a negative way, leaves out salient facts and generally delights in tweaking the U.S. then moving on, never to tell the full, more rounded story.
Kingofalldems
(38,417 posts)Why did you post that statement?
Devil Child
(2,728 posts)Why do you choose to ignore this?
Kingofalldems
(38,417 posts)Joe Biden and 99% of Democrats are not for defunding.
I see what's going on.
Devil Child
(2,728 posts)LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Regardless of whether we admit to that narrative or pretend it's something other than what it is.
Devil Child
(2,728 posts)I've missed you, wishing you well this Sunday. Always consistent in this most important narrative.
Elessar Zappa
(13,893 posts)call for defunding and you broadbrush the party. We see you.
Devil Child
(2,728 posts)I much prefer Biden's stance at the moment rather than Rep. Tlaib's.
Thanks for noticing.
JI7
(89,237 posts)and Biden got more votes than Tlaib in her own district.
Kingofalldems
(38,417 posts)Caliman73
(11,721 posts)Anyone who thinks that we can solve problems by simply taking money away from police is delusional. Money needs to be put into evidence based strategies and programs that address poverty, homelessness, drug use, and other societal problems that facilitate crime.
Root cause mitigation is possible, but it is complicated and expensive.
Devil Child
(2,728 posts)I agree on all counts. A minimal police force would be most effective with everything you describe funded, in place, and functioning. Long term success on a broad range of police and prison-systems issues will take action, time, and money.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)and that that lead to several attacking him. Police patrols are being stepped up. Apparently residents report other problems with fireworks in their neighborhood.
JI7
(89,237 posts)lapucelle
(18,185 posts)his history with the NYPD is interesting.
He was an active duty police officer when, in 1995, he helped to found an internal advocacy group called 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care.
Based in New York City and founded by two black police officers Eric Adams and Noel Leader in 1995, this organization was created to address relations between the NYPD and the African American community. The NYPD administration has yet to acknowledge or authorize this group yet as of 2018 it remains active. In 2013, Adams stepped down as executive director to become the first African American borough president of Brooklyn. Most members are retired from their law enforcement agencies while remaining members of 100 Blacks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Blacks_in_Law_Enforcement_Who_Care
The group 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement is known here for making "good trouble" with the NYPD brass from within the ranks and for community advocacy and outreach.
Here's a circa 2000 article from New York magazine about Eric Adams and his organization.
https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/crimelaw/features/3634/
rockfordfile
(8,695 posts)greenjar_01
(6,477 posts)"He said the park has become a hangout spot for rowdy teens and noted that he found three knives in the park on Saturday."
Let me tell you from (sometimes fun, sometimes bitter) experience that Juniper Park has been a hangout for rowdy teens for fucking decades. It's hosted much more vicious fights than this one, I can assure you.