Louisville, like many other American cities, has seen a sharp rise in the number of homicides in the past two years; 70 were reported a year ago, a 30 percent increase over 2003, and 50 have been logged so far this year. In the city's two black neighborhoods, the West End and Newburg, where the crime problem is most acute, residents have accused the Police Department of being unresponsive or even hostile. About 33 percent of Louisville's 256,000 residents are black, while African-Americans represent about 14 percent of the city's nearly 1,150 police officers.
White officers have fatally shot more than a half-dozen young black men in the city in the past five years. More than 20 killings in the West End and Newburg remain unsolved. Blacks contend that some officers harass them and that many refuse to get out of their cars and walk beats in their neighborhoods. MORE
Murder rates had been rising in many of the nations cities over the past few years. The overall murder rate has been dropping according to the FBI. It would appear that there is some significant shifting is going on from some large cities to middle sized cities, possibly because of the influence of meth manufacture is more practical in areas where population is less dense. I would love to see a comparision of economic indicators and murder rate and crime rate.
The Bush Administration has been cutting Federal funding for law enforcement and increasing those below the poverty rate by 30 million in four years. Murder is about believing there is no opportunity without taking the law into ones own hands. When success in your neighborhood is represented by the local drug dealer, murder rates go up. Remember that murder rates have been dropping in the cities throughout the past decade. Building hope in the city is the only way crime can come down and stay down.
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