My OperaMore on "Stay Away Orders"
Thursday, June 18, 2009 1:29:20 PM
First of all, apologies for not posting the last week or two. The editor was upgrading his computer for the first time in five years. It's now an AMD Athlon X2 5200 on an ASUS M3A76-CM with 4GB memory (I know, XP can't handle all of it!) and three 500 GB SATA Seagates. Since he does a lot of compiling in of a large C++ project, it's just marvelous. It's also an unexpected pleasure to hear the new audio built into the motherboard.
He had a post on a possible "emergency" law for this summer here. One of the comments (OK, the only one) was:
I don't understand the "emergency" orders. It seems like trouble pops up every summer, yes? (At least thats the way I remember it the past 8-10 years). What is keeping the politicians from actually enforcing normal laws - and if that isn't working - putting through well thought out laws through the normal process? It seems like emergency legislation comes out every summer, 2 months goes by fighting about it, then it's too hot for crime, so the legislation works for a week or two in September before it's repealed. Perhaps it's just me thinking with a non-elected brain, but if the problem pops up every year, start working on bills in the fall so they are fully vetted and passed by the time summer hits?
The editor thought the bill had problems, but then he saw this in the Washington Examiner. He really does consider this good news. Great news? Probably not. But good.
Over the years, one of the tools the police have used is a "stay away" order, meaning "don't hang out on these specified blocks". They are very tough to get, and can only be pursued for a few really bad individuals. And probably only make sense when the bad guys are isolated enough to go after, as opposed to members of a large herd. Back when, there were anti-loitering laws. They worked.
Then they were thrown out, and the trouble in various neighborhood just got worse, The police had no real control until someone got killed, a store robbed or several houses burgled. The "stay away" orders seemed to get the good guys some control back.
The reason for this post is here, in Mari's InShaw. The corner of Ninth and M was that way for a while. Up at the "Fish Market" at Ninth and N (now the Exchange), there was a far worse crowd. Being seen with a camera within a half block of there was not a good idea. It still smelled like the Fish Market many years after it closed.
The editor guesses that the new law will have a noticeable effect where the local PSA LT is solid. For the other PSA's, good luck. It will mean more next year after the police have developed a feel of how the courts will handle the changes. That doesn't happen overnight. At least the effect will be a year earlier than otherwise.
In a bit of a response to the comment, the editor is farily sure that the bill is a package of things that have been discussed for a while, and are a compromise of what can get passed and what the police really wanted. Will it cure really bad problems? Doubtful. There are, however, lots of corners and blocks which are not bad and not good, but with a serious nudge could get a lot better in a year or two. Gentrification is incremental. In twenty years, Mari is going to be writing about what those blocks were like "back when". This set of new tools for the police and courts will help move that along. And yes, things are always worse during the annual Global Warming.
He had a post on a possible "emergency" law for this summer here. One of the comments (OK, the only one) was:
I don't understand the "emergency" orders. It seems like trouble pops up every summer, yes? (At least thats the way I remember it the past 8-10 years). What is keeping the politicians from actually enforcing normal laws - and if that isn't working - putting through well thought out laws through the normal process? It seems like emergency legislation comes out every summer, 2 months goes by fighting about it, then it's too hot for crime, so the legislation works for a week or two in September before it's repealed. Perhaps it's just me thinking with a non-elected brain, but if the problem pops up every year, start working on bills in the fall so they are fully vetted and passed by the time summer hits?
The editor thought the bill had problems, but then he saw this in the Washington Examiner. He really does consider this good news. Great news? Probably not. But good.
Over the years, one of the tools the police have used is a "stay away" order, meaning "don't hang out on these specified blocks". They are very tough to get, and can only be pursued for a few really bad individuals. And probably only make sense when the bad guys are isolated enough to go after, as opposed to members of a large herd. Back when, there were anti-loitering laws. They worked.
Then they were thrown out, and the trouble in various neighborhood just got worse, The police had no real control until someone got killed, a store robbed or several houses burgled. The "stay away" orders seemed to get the good guys some control back.
The reason for this post is here, in Mari's InShaw. The corner of Ninth and M was that way for a while. Up at the "Fish Market" at Ninth and N (now the Exchange), there was a far worse crowd. Being seen with a camera within a half block of there was not a good idea. It still smelled like the Fish Market many years after it closed.
The editor guesses that the new law will have a noticeable effect where the local PSA LT is solid. For the other PSA's, good luck. It will mean more next year after the police have developed a feel of how the courts will handle the changes. That doesn't happen overnight. At least the effect will be a year earlier than otherwise.
In a bit of a response to the comment, the editor is farily sure that the bill is a package of things that have been discussed for a while, and are a compromise of what can get passed and what the police really wanted. Will it cure really bad problems? Doubtful. There are, however, lots of corners and blocks which are not bad and not good, but with a serious nudge could get a lot better in a year or two. Gentrification is incremental. In twenty years, Mari is going to be writing about what those blocks were like "back when". This set of new tools for the police and courts will help move that along. And yes, things are always worse during the annual Global Warming.
