Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Crime rate up, but I already knew that...

This article in the Arizona Republic presents both sides of the crime statistics debate. While it is good to see a newspaper that gives a balanced view of statistics, it has been my experience in the last year that crime in Phoenix is up. For me, (and yes this is anecdotal) the increase in crime is palatable.

My neighborhood and most of central Phoenix have seen major increases in small property crime and graffiti. I think these are the early signs of the increased gang activity mentioned in the article. Last week, I saw several instances of graffiti in the Arcadia and the Biltmore areas, both pretty swanky areas. My middle income neighborhood has seen a major increase in graffiti and small property crime. This has been a battle for several years. The graffiti goes up and city tries to paint over it. Unfortunately, the city seems to be falling behind. For the most part in previous years, Phoenix was able to get rid of graffiti in 48 hours. I am now seeing the same graffiti for weeks.

This is the kind of butter and butter issue that government needs to address and quickly. Studies have shown for sometime that one way to combat violent crime and property crime is to avoid blight. Well, this is a reelection year for the Phoenix Mayor and City Council, what is your plan? How do we address this issue before it gets worse?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

No matter what the city may try to do graffiti will still be there. we need to find a different approach to it rather than making half the city look like it has different colors here and there. the graffiti will remain that is a fact and cannot be changed by merely painting over it. The city needs to come up with a different approach that wont be wasting much money, which can be used up for public services rather than trying to cover a problem that is going to keep on surfacing.

Anonymous said...

no matter what the city may try to do graffiti will still be there. we need to find a different approach to it rather than making half the city look like it has different colors here and there. the graffiti will remain that is a fact and cannot be changed by merely painting over it. The city needs to come up with a different approach that wont be wasting much money, which can be used up for public services rather than trying to cover a problem that is going to keep on surfacing.

A DemLament said...

I agree, painting over it is just a bandaid. Any suggestions on how to decrease the amounts of graffiti?