Annapolis Capital Punishment

CP received this from an anonymous resident and felt it was important enough to post alone here rather than just as a comment. I want to personally thank the writer and please ask him or her to communicate with me directly. I will not post or release your identity if you wish to remain anonymous. Here goes, followed by a few comments:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "More Murder...in Eastport Again":

I am new to this blog, and I came across it as I was researching neighborhood watch programs in Eastport. See, I am new to Annapolis, and frankly I am shocked and saddened at the amount of crime I have experienced in the past 6 months. I didn't move here from a small community, I lived on the West Side of Chicago and I have never experienced as much fear than here in Annapolis. Since buying my house here, I have had it broken into in the middle of the night, my car vandalized, last night I had 6 cop cars chasing a car which finally stopped. I am not sure the cause of the chase, just that the man was having trouble understanding the police because he did not speak English. Two weeks ago there were these shootings a couple blocks away, there was another car chase last week where the non English speaking folks got out and started beating some others up with a bat.

I live on a block in which the neighbors have lived here for 40 years. After last nights episode they are ready to pack up and leave. Nobody wants their kids around such crime, this isn't a community it is a crime zone. It is also pathetic that as a city we are so worried about hurting peoples feelings in regards to them not being citizens, when all the while Annapolis doesn't seem to worried about the good abiding residents who have been here for 40 years and watching them move away. If that happens, you better be sure that it is going to get worse unless Annapolis puts a stop to all this! It is out of control.

I do have to say that the policeman who assisted me when I was broken into were wonderful!

Dear Anonymous:

Please don't pack up and leave--yet. There is crime everywhere and while things seemed to be going from bad to worse here during the failed Moyer/Chief Johnson Administration, there appear to be many positive steps taking place with the new police chief. I called for the former chief to resign. I have called for a massive overhaul of public housing. I am trying to build community and interest in our collective future by writing this blog.
I am pleased to hear that you were appreciative of the police officers' efforts. We have many excellent and dedicated officers--and a few bad apples and clockwatchers, but we all must work together to build strong communities and fight crime. We must find ways to work with and assist our police and especially to create opportunities for youth and jobs for all! We do not fight crime simply by barring our doors, adding police, getting tougher judges and building prisons. Yes, this is a part of the solution, and while there may always be "bad" people who do bad things to others, I believe that criminals are mainly bred, not born.
We live in a society that is no longer focused on working to provide equal opportunity and justice for all but is further splitting into haves and have-nots, into owners and renters, masters and slaves. We seem to accept having the super rich and the super poor. We can't find enough for our schools but we bail out banks and create a welfare system for the military industrial complex. I don't know if you agree with my analysis or see it as relevant to our local concerns, but that is how I feel, and I have two children in local public schools. We have been the victims of crime as well.

Please don't get discouraged. We can continue to improve our community. You may also wish to visit the Anne Arundel crime blog. Thank you.

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