Search Results for 'murdertown'
Whatever Happened to Murdertown?
I posed a question in the panhandling thread asking if anyone could figure out why Mike Purzycki gets virtually no positive press for the receding Wilmington murder rate. I flashed back to my summer of substitute teaching when nobody raised a hand. There’s a reason I asked the question in a thread about panhandlers. I’ll […]
The Murdertown Chronicles — Finale
Part 3 was released some time back and I apologize for not posting that. See the end of this post to see details on the release and wrap party for the final episode. Have you heard about this new podcast? Sponsored by the Delaware Center for Justice, this is a long-form reporting project that is meant to explore the role that poverty plays in Wilmington’s crime problems. This will be in four parts — and so far includes voices from young men wrapped up in crime as well as voices from the ACLU, Dr. Yasser Payne, Charlie Copeland and others who are illuminating the larger picture involved with Wilmington’s crime problems. I’ve listened to the first one (this is about 20 minutes long) and it is riveting. Give it a listen and I hope you’ll come back to this thread to discuss this work and the issues it raises.
Murdertown, USA
That’s the title of Newsweek’s article looking at the crime problem in Wilmington. I thought that this article mostly tried to leverage off of articles like this one, that rank the safety of small cities using FBI crime stats and articles from the News Journal also reporting on Wilmington’s crime issues. The author mentions a “tale of two cities” quality to the city (that’s true) but doesn’t really do this theme justice, which might have told us more about the problem. And if you google “Murdertown”, you see places like Flint, MI, Chicago, IL, various towns in Texas and Youngstown, OH, tagged with it, so the title to this article is even a little worn. Still:
This year, there have been 27 homicides in Wilmington, tying its record 27 murders in 2010, and 135 people have been shot. Twenty-two of them died. With a population of just over 71,000, Wilmington had a violent-crime rate of 1,625 per 100,000 people last year, according to the FBI’s 2013 Uniform Crime Report (that crime rate measures murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault). The national average was 368 per 100,000 people. Wilmington ranks third for violence among 450 cities of comparable size, behind the Michigan towns of Saginaw and Flint, according to a Wilmington News Journal report.
The stats are bad, but if the number of murders could be cut by one third or so, Wilmington would fall right off of those top 10 lists. The city would be a little safer for the folks who live in the neighborhoods where the guns seem drawn all of the time, but would the problem be resolved? Probably not, because:
When you ask people in Wilmington about the root causes of the city’s crime epidemic, their answers read like the devil’s Christmas list: poverty, racism, lack of economic opportunities, drug and alcohol abuse, gun violence, high dropout rates, teenage pregnancy, stressed families and more.
How to Make Money During an Economic Catastrophe
Selling whenever Trump says that things are great, and buying just before they find another trillion dollars for Morgan Stanley would seem to be a very sound strategy. Also, there is always looting if you have the means. Which reminds me. Listen to this. And read this. E73 – Confessions of a Looter (w/Zach […]
Markell’s Final Report Card
From a progressive viewpoint, I can only be disappointed by the mediocrity of Markell’s tenure, but I’m sure the Corporate-Clinton Democrats are quite content.
January 12, 2017 Open Thread
Donald Trump’s press conference, Philly lawyers setting up an ethical blind trust and Dennis Williams doesn’t know how to use Microsoft Outlook.
The City of Wilmington Just Lost $1.5M in WPD Funding and All Mayor Williams Can Manage is the Usual Okie Doke
At the end of the legislative session last Thursday, the GA took back $1.5 million it was holding at the behest of AG Matt Denn to finance more WPD foot patrols in hot spots in Wilmington. AG Denn helped the City to fund foot patrols last spring and then the JFC met in a special session to allocate more funds this time for both Wilmington and Dover. The additional $1.5M would have paid for 20 weeks of foot patrols and other overtime and would have added in $75K for crime analysis of hot spots by the Delaware State Police. The legislators conditioned Wilmington’s award to the city providing some data on current WPD deployments and it would require that the city meet with the WPPSC consultants again so an assessment could be made of the City’s progress in implementing the recommendations of the commission.
2015: The Good. The Bad. The Ridiculous.
Because this list is generally a critical review of the year’s events, I’ve decided not to place Beau Biden’s death or Joe’s flirtation with running for President on the lists. Who is to say how one should react under such circumstances? And how does one rank a death? Answer to both questions: I don’t know. So, I won’t do it.
We start as always, with the list with the fewest nominees: The Good. Because, let’s face it, on balance, this was not a good year for Delaware. Much closer to an annus horribilis, or whatever Queen Elizabeth calls it.
Wherever possible, I’ve linked to an article that provides context.
Delaware Liberal in 2015
As we all recover from Christmas, the Eagles losing, and prepare for New Years, it is time to look back on 2015 at Delaware Liberal. We added a new amazing writer here this year in Brian Stephan from the local blog, Those in Favor. He makes a great addition to our team of Jason300, Pandora, Cassandra, Rob Tornoe, El Somnambulo and yours truly.
Inside you will find our most discussed, visited, and viral posts of 2015, and this year, they reflected the most important political stories in Delaware in 2015.
The Clowning of Wilmington
The ABC network is going to take up the label that Newsweek slapped Wilmington with to create a new TV show called “Murder Town”. It will be set in Wilmington, and be a legal drama. You can read about all of that in the NJ article. Hollywoodizing Wilmington and its troubles won’t help those here that actually need some help and add to that a bunch of people who don’t live here getting ready to profit from Wilmington’s issues who probably won’t be investing here. Still. The most appalling part of this article is this:
2014: The Good, The Bad, The Ridiculous.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in politics and government in Delaware in 2014. Here is a peak inside:
The Good.
6. Matt Denn elected AG. Didja notice that he plans to be inaugurated at the PAL site on N. Market Street? I think that gives us a clue as to what’s at the top of his priority list.
The Bad.
5. We learn that connected DuPont heir received no jail time after pleading guilty for raping his three-year-old daughter back in 2008. Per usual, no comment from the Beaudhisatva.
The Ridiculous.
10. Bethany Hall Long’s husband caught stealing signs.
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