Victimless crimes involving drugs.

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

 How much money would be saved if, as Ron suggested, police in Somerville (or MA) stopped pursuing victimless crimes involving drugs? Does anyone know if  such a proposal is being discussed seriously anywhere? Excuse my ignorance...

Comments

Re: That is a difficult issue...

[thespian.livejournal.com]

Markoff is, though, a little different than Rocco over on Winter Hill.

Seriously, I wonder if this isn't a little bit of Davis Square myopia; I don't know how many of y'all spend time on Winter Hill, down by Assembly, south of Union, etc. It's...really different there, much more dangerous, much more crime ridden.

Re: That is a difficult issue...

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

I have to confess I NEVER go there...

Re: That is a difficult issue...

[thespian.livejournal.com]

i have to admit, I have a different view of this than a lot of people around here. I have lived in a lot of bad neighbourhoods; Savin Hill in the early 90s, Apollo Heights in Raleigh, the industrial area around the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Parkdale in Toronto. In my opinion, there are very few 'victimless' drug crimes if you escalate above marijuana.

In Parkdale around 1990, I got to listen to people in my boarding house discuss robbing my apartment for my stereo (the *dealer* liked me, though, and threatened to kill the discussers if they did; that was just a pot thing). In Apollo Heights, I found a guy in the wooded area behind my house who had ODed. Surely a victimless crime - he did it to himself, after all. Except someone had to find him, and that was one of the most horrible things I've ever had happen to me.

The problem is the insiduousness of the whole thing. Overlooking a little local victim/violence free incidents results in the back end escalating (hey, as long as *I* don't blow the place up, meth labs are ok; as long as *I* don't engage in violence when I make a sale, they'll overlook it, etc. What gets done as a corollary to my sales is irrelevant).

I'm not fond of the so called Drug Wars. But there's a good reason why 'victimless' crimes are prosecuted under the current system.

Re: That is a difficult issue...

[purpless77.livejournal.com]

I couldn't agree with everything thespian has said.
I'm not generalizing but I think A LOT of new people here don't understand what REALLY goes on in Somerville. They move from nice areas or have been to areas where things are more obvious. They don't look deep enough. The drug issues here are out of hand. I went to school with many kids who have then and since overdosed and are no longer with us. The people some of them have robbed were victims. The families and friends, that lost them who tried to help are victims. The younger kids the USERS pushed drugs on are in a sense victims. I know druggies who used to rob people in Davis all the time and that wasn't that long ago. I knew druggies who robbed houses, stores, kids, etc. All in Somerville and not all of them committed their crimes in deep East Somervile either. There are plenty of users in and around Davis and further west. Sometimes going to jail or being arrested is enough to get them to at least try to fix up there lives. Unfortunately some are lost causes. I agree if we let them "get away" with these negative actions it will only further escalate the the bigger problem.

Re: That is a difficult issue...

[purpless77.livejournal.com]

That should say, "I couldn't agree MORE with everything thespian said".

Re: That is a difficult issue...

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Well, relatively. Seriously, Boston's "bad" neighborhoods don't get anywhere close to the Tenderloin or some of Philly/NY's absolute worst.

Re: That is a difficult issue...

[arrowintwolakes.livejournal.com]

I was about to say, I live in Winter Hill and I don't think it's bad at all (having worked in West Philly and having friends in the Bronx.) "Colorful" is how I would describe it.

Re: That is a difficult issue...

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I lived on Winter Hill for almost two years. Down near Sullivan is a bit rougher than the rest of the neighborhood, but truthfully, I never feared for my safety even if I was walking back to my place at 12am.

Re: That is a difficult issue...

[ron_newman]

I'm reasonably often in different parts of Somerville, including all of the areas mentioned. None of it feels very dangerous to me. I used to regularly commute by bike at night from downtown Boston through Charlestown, East Somerville (Pearl St) and the foot of Winter Hill. (And my synagogue is at the top of WInter Hill.)