Mount Pleasant DC Forum

[Josh]

Has there been a significant spike in muggings and armed robberies in Mt. Pleasant recently or is there just a jump in discussion about it? I've seen both a jump in reports in online forums and an increase in police seeming to be responding to crimes in the neighborhood. What's being done about it? Are additional lights being installed? Is there an effort to coordinate with neighbors and community businesses? Can we get an officer or two out of their cars and onto bikes or walking in our neighborhood after dark?

[Dominic Sale]

Josh, you have perhaps unwittingly struck at the heart of the issue in more ways than one. First of all, it is difficult to say whether or not muggings or robberies are on the increase because the data is just not reliable or accessible enough to tell us. I have a very strong suspicion, based on personal and allegorical experience, that crime is grossly underreported in this city. This is an issue that is of extreme relevance because an uneducated public is unable to make decisions based upon suspect information. It is one of my major objectives while in office in ANC to make such information more readily available to the public and come up with ways to deliver it to everyone. But I won't be able to do so alone. As the ANC does not vest me with any "real" power, I will need to rely heavily on the tesimony of citizens, like yourself, to support me. My vision includes, in part, creating a web site for our ANC with timely and comprehensive crime information in a format that will Be useful and clear. The city has every reason to not want to make such information available, which will make it all the harder to make it happen.

Second, you astutely note that an increase in citizen involvement is positively correlated to an increase in police involvement. This is no coincidence. That is the main reason why I think it is of vital importance for as many people as possible to attend the monthly MPD PSA 410 meetings. What kind of message does it send to our police when only a handful of local residents attend these meetings? The police are only people, and react to their surroundings like the rest of us. If a community seems unperturbed by crime, so too will the people who serve us.

Anyway, please stay actively involved and I hope to see you at the next PSA meeting on December 10th.

Dominic Sale
ANC Commissioner-elect, SMD 1D06

[Dominic Sale]

Josh, you have perhaps unwittingly struck at the heart of the issue in more ways than one. First of all, it is difficult to say whether or not muggings or robberies are on the increase because the data is just not reliable or accessible enough to tell us. I have a very strong suspicion, based on personal and allegorical experience, that crime is grossly underreported in this city. This is an issue that is of extreme relevance because an uneducated public is unable to make decisions based upon suspect information. It is one of my major objectives while in office in ANC to make such information more readily available to the public and come up with ways to deliver it to everyone. But I won't be able to do so alone. As the ANC does not vest me with any "real" power, I will need to rely heavily on the tesimony of citizens, like yourself, to support me. My vision includes, in part, creating a web site for our ANC with timely and comprehensive crime information in a format that will Be useful and clear. The city has every reason to not want to make such information available, which will make it all the harder to make it happen.

Second, you astutely note that an increase in citizen involvement is positively correlated to an increase in police involvement. This is no coincidence. That is the main reason why I think it is of vital importance for as many people as possible to attend the monthly MPD PSA 410 meetings. What kind of message does it send to our police when only a handful of local residents attend these meetings? The police are only people, and react to their surroundings like the rest of us. If a community seems unperturbed by crime, so too will the people who serve us.

Anyway, please stay actively involved and I hope to see you at the next PSA meeting on December 10th.

Dominic Sale
ANC Commissioner-elect, SMD 1D06