By Keenan Kline.

Shots Fired Density Near Westside, Map, Onondaga Crime Analysis Center
This image is a map showing the density of shots fired in the Near Westside Neighborhood.[/caption]

Mother Earth who has been a resident of the Near Westside for the past 8 years, and an active member of multiple Near Westside organizations, was interviewed for the book, and talks about the police delegation group that was set up after multiple cameras were set up around different blocks in the Near West Side to try to ease some of the crime. Most people opposed the installation of the cameras, but after they were installed, residents started to look for ways to build a better relationship with the police. Mother Earth says that some of the police have taken advantage of their power, and that many officers shy away from their duty which is to serve and protect. She believes instead of cops approaching a situation or a person with suspicion, they can politely try to understand the view of those involved instead of interrogating them immediately with the thought they committed a crime. She even says that by simply saying hello to residents can be a major step in rebuilding trust and shows the community that cops are making efforts to try and personally develop relationships with residents. Most of her arguments along with many other residents in the book seem to push the responsibility of miscommunication onto the police because many residents don’t understand their rights, but cops understand fully because they are the law. In other words, they should know better because they are trained to serve and protect rather than be an enemy of the community.

Certainly the police aren’t to blame for all of the crime problems in the Near Westside. Since 2010, the Near Westside still seems to be a hub for high crime, as the crime rates remain pretty consistent even with the addition of the security cameras in 2011. With the exception of larceny, all other categories of crimes reported including aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, larceny from vehicle, robbery, rape, non-neg manslaughter, and murder have only seen slight decreases if that over the past 3 years. Larceny seems to have decreased as a direct result of the cameras. Before the cameras were installed in 2011, at least 80 cases of larceny had been reported in each quarter of the year. Since the cameras, each quarter has reported just over 60 larceny cases which is a significant decrease. Because of the consistent high crime rate, cops believe that they must act in a certain way that may be seen as more aggressive, for their own protection. Police chief Barrett said that “you never know when you will be turning into the middle of a gunfire on any block in the neighborhood. However this doesn’t seem to be the case as only the main roads that run along the Near Westside’s border, and connect the 2 communities separated by the Near Westside including Gifford St, West Onondaga St, South Geddes St, and Shonnard St, have the highest rate of crime of all streets in the neighborhood.

Regardless, these statistics still don’t change the crime problem that is present in the Near Westside. Although communication between cops and residents might not be the ultimate solution for crime prevention, it certainly helps because it allows both sides to have trust for each other. Also, the establishment of the police delegation is a great start, and is starting to unite the community and the police department. Once the process of recursion is broken by either party or together, then perhaps serious progress can be made in reducing crime in the Near Westside.

Mass incarceration has been a problem plaguing America for year and is a reflection of the politics that so heavily influence American culture. Of the many prisoners incarcerated, the number of African Americans behind bars is somewhat hard to believe. What may be even worse is the effect that it has on the communities where these prisoners live. Many times African Americans are racially profiled by police which gives some explanation as to why the incarceration rate is so high in the African American community. Many of these people experience something worse that keeps them separated from the rest of society, and thus makes it hard for those incarcerated to integrate back into society. This forces a multitude of African Americans to turn back to habits that wind the back behind bars once again, making them the center of a vicious cycle known as the birdcage theory. The legal system keeps African Americans in this cycle and makes it almost impossible to break, explaining the analogy of the birdcage. American don’t understand this theory, and this allows them to make political assumptions that are negatively influenced by racial terms. The birdcage theory has a serious impact on many African American communities and keeps many of its people especially men, behind bars and only adds to the problem of mass incarceration.

Another issue that ties into crime specifically of the Near Westside is that of race and demographics which has such a heavy influence on the culture of the neighborhood. Shifting from a predominantly white neighborhood, to a community full of resident of color, certainly has changed the views of the Near Westside, especially when so much of the crimes being recorded not only in Syracuse, but the nation as a whole, involve Latino and African American citizens. This issue is highlighted in a reading by Michelle Alexander called The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness. This reading sheds light into why so many men of color, specifically African American get caught up in the criminal justice system which ultimately leads to them being caught in this birdcage theory that Alexander explains. She says African American men first get forced into the cage from the cops who conduct drug operations primarily in poor communities of color. These same cops are rewarded in cash for rounding up as many people as possible, and they are not constrained by constitutional rules of procedure. Police are allowed to stop and search anyone given consent, and because there is no meaningful check on the exercise of police discretion, racial biases run rampant. Police are actually allowed to stop someone, relying on race to be the deciding factor, causing many of those stopped and entering the system to be men of color. These men are then incarcerated and are under formal control of the criminal justice system for many years given the harsh penalties on drug laws. The vast majority is released, but face criminal sanctions which allows them to be discriminated against legally for the rest of their lives. These sanctions operate collectively to ensure that the vast majority of convicted offenders will never integrate into mainstream white society. They are denied employment, housing, education, and public benefits, which cause many to return to the same neighborhoods and turn to a life of crime once again, putting them in a vicious cycle known as the birdcage theory. Seeing as though the Near Westside is a neighborhood whose demographics show a major population of colored families that live below the poverty line, the birdcage theory could give some explanation as to why crime as been such a big issue in the Near Westside.

One thing is clear however, crime is present, and it happens at an unusually high rate. In a map that shows the shots fired density in the city of Syracuse from January 2009 to the end of September 2010, the concentration of shots fired in the Near Westside is at the highest density rated, and the location for most of the shots fired in the whole city is concentrated in the Near Westside and surrounding neighborhoods. Last year in 2012 alone, there were a total of 765 crimes committed that included murder, non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, larceny from vehicle, and motor vehicle theft. Burglary and larceny are definitely the most popular crimes as they account for about half of all crimes committed in the Near Westside.

Camera Location , Map, Onondaga Crime Analysis Center
This Map Shows the locations of the various police surveillance cameras recently installed in the Near Westside

Camera Location , Map, Onondaga Crime Analysis Center
This Map Shows the locations of the various police surveillance cameras recently installed in the Near Westside

Near Westside Camera Progress, Online Article, Douglass Dowty
This is an article from syracuse.com that explains the progress that the police surveillence cameras are having on crime in the Near Westside

Near Westside Density Map , Map, Keenan Kline
This Map shows the density of crimes taking place between 2010 and 2012 in the Near Westside by street

Near Westside Crime Graphs, Graphs, Keenan Kline
These Graphs show the progression of crime in the Near Westside for different crime categories from 2010 – 2012

Near Westside Crime Graphs, Graphs, Keenan Kline
These Graphs show the progression of crime in the Near Westside for different crime categories from 2010 – 2012

Near Westside Crime Graphs, Graphs, Keenan Kline
These Graphs show the progression of crime in the Near Westside for different crime categories from 2010 – 2012

Near Westside Crime Graphs, Graphs, Keenan Kline
These Graphs show the progression of crime in the Near Westside for different crime categories from 2010 – 2012

Near Westside Crime Graphs, Graphs, Keenan Kline
These Graphs show the progression of crime in the Near Westside for different crime categories from 2010

Near Westside Crime Graphs, Graphs, Keenan Kline
These Graphs show the progression of crime in the Near Westside for different crime categories from 2011

Near Westside Crime Graphs, Graphs, Keenan Kline
These Graphs show the progression of crime in the Near Westside for different crime categories from 2012

Bibliography

Gifford Street Community Press, . I Witness: Perspectives on Policing in the Near Westside. Syracuse, NY: Gifford Street Community Press, 2012.

Kat, De Maria. “People protest police surveillance cameras.” . http://ithaca-cortland.ynn.com/content/story_links/523445/people-protest-police-surveillance-cameras/ (accessed April 1, 2013).

Douglass, Dowty. “I Witness:Book encouraged dialogue between Syracuse police and Near Westside residents.” . http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/03/i_witness_book_encouraged_dial.html (accessed April 1, 2013).

Douglass, Dowty. “I Witness:Syracuse’s Near Westside is “dangerous side of town,” cop says.” . http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/03/i_witness_syracuses_near_wests.html (accessed April 1, 2013).

Syracuse Police Department, “syracusepolice.org.” Accessed April 1, 2013. http://www.syracusepolice.org/document/NeighborhoodWebMapWithReports.pdf.