RE: violent crime in inner cities. IMO we DUers must stop dancing around the political issue and

[jody]

openly debate why crime rates are higher between racial groups as shown by the DoJ report below.

The race distribution of homicide victims and offenders differs by type of homicide
“In 2005, homicide victimization rates for blacks were 6 times higher than the rates for whites.”
“In 2005, offending rates for blacks were more than 7 times higher than the rates for whites”

IMO it will take the combined efforts of the best and brightest among us with leaders from the black community to solve the problem.

One success story is the Boston Miracle inspires UK's gang fight

Scotland Yard's latest initiative to deal with youth gun crime is modeled on a successful gang-busting initiative in the US.

Within two years of implementing Operation Ceasefire in 1995, Boston had reclaimed the streets from the gangs.

The Boston Miracle, as it is known, reduced violent crime by about 50% in two years.
During a 29-month period covered by the operation, not a single teenager died in gun violence.

The paragraphs in the article are mostly single-sentence so I can't post much content and abide by DU's four paragraph rule.

I strongly encourage DUers to read the article because it's a success story.

On the other hand, the Boston Miracle (Operation Ceasefire) may have been a short lived success because Boston Police are now asking parents to approve warrantless searches for guns.

Police to search for guns in homes

Boston police are launching a program that will call upon parents in high-crime neighborhoods to allow detectives into their homes, without a warrant, to search for guns in their children's bedrooms.

The program, which is already raising questions about civil liberties, is based on the premise that parents are so fearful of gun violence and the possibility that their own teenagers will be caught up in it that they will turn to police for help, even in their own households.

In the next two weeks, Boston police officers who are assigned to schools will begin going to homes where they believe teenagers might have guns. The officers will travel in groups of three, dress in plainclothes to avoid attracting negative attention, and ask the teenager's parent or legal guardian for permission to search. If the parents say no, police said, the officers will leave.

If officers find a gun, police said, they will not charge the teenager with unlawful gun possession, unless the firearm is linked to a shooting or homicide.

IMO Obama now has the public's attention and he could provide the leadership needed to solve the problem that is causing more U.S. deaths in our "REAL WAR AGAINST TERRORISM IN U.S. CITIES" than occur in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As a minimum, Obama has the bully pulpit to make “inner city violent crime” a political issue and force Dem candidates and hopefully Repug candidates to recognize and take a stand on the issue.

Less anyone accuse me of being a bigot, etc. my cousins whom I love dearly and with whom I share a perfect Y DNA match are African-American. We share a common interest in finding ways to reduce violent crime in general and violent crime in inner cities in particular.

COMMENTS PLEASE