[Dukeboy01]

Lexington is in the midst of what counts (for us) as a serious crime wave. Actually, it would probably be considered a serious crime wave in most places. As of this morning we'd had 13 shootings, including one homicide, in seven days.

So, on the eighth day, the honorable Mayor of Lexington, flanked by my department's brass, homicide detectives, council people, flunkies, toadies, and "the ministers," as they would say on The Wire, created a task force.

"We will not let the streets be controlled by thugs!" the mayor roared and (I imagine) shook his tiny fists. (Seriously, the man has freakishly small hands.)

And about three hours later this happened:

http://www.kentucky.com/2011/10/13/1...-will-not.html

This one's probably going to be a homicide. So that's 14 shootings in 8 days.

But, hey, we gots another task force.



ETA: Here's a link to Tuesday's story, when we'd only had 11 shootings and one homicide. We also had a stabbing last night. Good times. Good times.

http://www.kentucky.com/2011/10/11/1...micide-on.html

[msu_grad_121]

Wow. Sounds like your sister cities are Detroit and Beirut!

[Patchman]

Where I'm at, we share the same floor as our homicide detectives. I noticed that whenever they head for the elevator, they're smiling because they are responding to another shooting or stabbing where somebody is seriously injured, about to die, or died.

When they're sitting around in their office, they're glum. (They're all oldtimers each with 20, 25 or more years of LE experience. Think the character "Fish" in the TV show Barney Miller).

Crime is good for paying off the holiday bills.

[wprebeck]

Originally Posted by Dukeboy01

Lexington is in the midst of what counts (for us) as a serious crime wave. Actually, it would probably be considered a serious crime wave in most places. As of this morning we'd had 13 shootings, including one homicide, in seven days.

So, on the eighth day, the honorable Mayor of Lexington, flanked by my department's brass, homicide detectives, council people, flunkies, toadies, and "the ministers," as they would say on The Wire, created a task force.

"We will not let the streets be controlled by thugs!" the mayor roared and (I imagine) shook his tiny fists. (Seriously, the man has freakishly small hands.)

And about three hours later this happened:

http://www.kentucky.com/2011/10/13/1...-will-not.html

This one's probably going to be a homicide. So that's 14 shootings in 8 days.

But, hey, we gots another task force.



ETA: Here's a link to Tuesday's story, when we'd only had 11 shootings and one homicide. We also had a stabbing last night. Good times. Good times.

http://www.kentucky.com/2011/10/11/1...micide-on.html

What part of town? If you'll recall, I grew up down there....man's I thought Georgetown circle was gone, along with the Continental Inn.

[Dukeboy01]

It's all over. The one yesterday afternoon was on Lakeshore. It's mostly north side so far but it's split between the old East End/ West End divide. Surprisingly, only one of them has been in Cardinal Valley (Lexington's Little Mexico).

[wprebeck]

Originally Posted by Dukeboy01

It's all over. The one yesterday afternoon was on Lakeshore. It's mostly north side so far but it's split between the old East End/ West End divide. Surprisingly, only one of them has been in Cardinal Valley (Lexington's Little Mexico).

Umm..Lakeshore? The gated community Eddie Sutton lived in?

Or, the other one?

[merlynusn]

Yeah, our violent crime comes in waves. Some days we have nothing and other days we have a couple of shootings/stabbings.

The problem with violent crimes like shootings and stabbings is they are pretty much impossible to stop. No amount of patrolling will prevent that argument turning into a shooting or stabbing. If the shootings and stabbings aren't related, what's the point of a task force?

[smokeross]

Tiny fists! I like that. Ever notice the whimpy, girl fists politicians make when they are trying to make a point? Thumb sticking out.

[CAcop]

In 2010 we had 6 homicides in our town of 59K. The irst 5 were in the first 6 months. Management was ****ting peach pits.

[Ajon412]

Originally Posted by Dukeboy01

Lexington is in the midst of what counts (for us) as a serious crime wave. Actually, it would probably be considered a serious crime wave in most places. As of this morning we'd had 13 shootings, including one homicide, in seven days.

So, on the eighth day, the honorable Mayor of Lexington, flanked by my department's brass, homicide detectives, council people, flunkies, toadies, and "the ministers," as they would say on The Wire, created a task force.

"We will not let the streets be controlled by thugs!" the mayor roared and (I imagine) shook his tiny fists. (Seriously, the man has freakishly small hands.)

And about three hours later this happened:

http://www.kentucky.com/2011/10/13/1...-will-not.html

This one's probably going to be a homicide. So that's 14 shootings in 8 days.

But, hey, we gots another task force.



ETA: Here's a link to Tuesday's story, when we'd only had 11 shootings and one homicide. We also had a stabbing last night. Good times. Good times.

http://www.kentucky.com/2011/10/11/1...micide-on.html

Hours after police announced a task force intended to crack down on the number of shootings in Lexington, the city saw its 14th shooting incident in nine days.

I guess the bad guys didn't get the memo.....

[alabaster]

Interesting. I'd guess it's definitely drugs. Stronger organized crime wouldn't be rocking a gold cavalier. Too, I'm not shocked it's scripts. If it were the oldies, there would be a more grounded/ well off group doing the dirt, I'd think. Much more $ would be flowing around, and people wouldn't be so reckless about leaving evidence, witnesses, and bodies. I wish the citizens out there the best of luck. I'll be praying for ya, That's gotta be unsettling to say the least.

[Mattz]

Want to control the crime? You go out and knock heads and put the turds in jail for anything and everything, and you keep doing that until they're afraid to step foot in the city again, and if they do they're too paranoid looking over the shoulder for the man to actually commit any crimes. Unfortunately, this model of policing has been replaced with shaking hands and kissing babies. Maybe someday..

[alabaster]

Originally Posted by Mattz

Want to control the crime? You go out and knock heads and put the turds in jail for anything and everything, and you keep doing that until they're afraid to step foot in the city again, and if they do they're too paranoid looking over the shoulder for the man to actually commit any crimes. Unfortunately, this model of policing has been replaced with shaking hands and kissing babies. Maybe someday..

+1. I was too busy giving my ideas on whats going on rather than how to fix it. You got the right idea, my man.

[Mattz]

Originally Posted by alabaster

+1. I was too busy giving my ideas on whats going on rather than how to fix it. You got the right idea, my man.

Absolutely... anyone who says it doesn't work needs to look at NYC... it went from a sess pool to a much nicer place because the police were encouraged to do their jobs. Start with the small issues and work your way up.

I came from a smaller city, where I knew most of the players. I was the reason a lot of them ended up moving out of the city. No one likes to get jacked up every time you go out, but unfortunately when you're a turd that's the game you're dealt.

[RVER]

Yea people are going nuts all over the place. The small towns in PA such as Reading, Lebanon, Lancaster, York and Harrisburg have turned into absolute crap with several shootings each week but nothing like Lexington.
Stay safe brother,

[Aux Bear]

OK, if no one else is going to say it:

Open Carry would have prevented this!

[Dukeboy01]

Originally Posted by wprebeck

Umm..Lakeshore? The gated community Eddie Sutton lived in?

Or, the other one?

The other one. We got one arrest on it already.

http://www.kentucky.com/2011/10/14/1...lexington.html

The corner of Lakeshore and Fontaine is right in front of Henry Clay High School. The shooting happened in the parking lot of some apartments across the street. It's going to be all fun and games until somebody's honor student catches a stray...

Oh, and I found out today that we actually had two shootings yesterday, so the real count is 15 shootings in 9 days. The second one happened in one of the really bad parts of town and nobody died, so it didn't even make the duty report. Basically, a guy fired a couple of rounds into a house where his girlfriend or ex- girlfriend was sleeping. One of the rounds actually struck her, but it had lost so much velocity traveling through the wall that it didn't penetrate. It just gave her a little burn and they found the slug tangled up in the sheets.

[Dukeboy01]

Originally Posted by smokeross

Tiny fists! I like that. Ever notice the whimpy, girl fists politicians make when they are trying to make a point? Thumb sticking out.

Yup, that's the one. Just like Bill Clinton used to do.

[Dukeboy01]

Originally Posted by Mattz

Want to control the crime? You go out and knock heads and put the turds in jail for anything and everything, and you keep doing that until they're afraid to step foot in the city again, and if they do they're too paranoid looking over the shoulder for the man to actually commit any crimes. Unfortunately, this model of policing has been replaced with shaking hands and kissing babies. Maybe someday..

Yeah, that's not going to happen here. I don't think our new guys even know how to do that anymore. I came on at the tail end of that kind of policing and it was on the way out the door around here by the time I had finished my second year on patrol.

[alabaster]

Originally Posted by Aux Bear

OK, if no one else is going to say it:

Open Carry would have prevented this!

Doubt it, man. They woulda just had to search a lil harder to find a time and place where they felt safe making the hit.

OK, if no one else is going to say it:

Boondock Sainting it will STOP THIS!

[wprebeck]

Originally Posted by Dukeboy01

The other one. We got one arrest on it already.

http://www.kentucky.com/2011/10/14/1...lexington.html

The corner of Lakeshore and Fontaine is right in front of Henry Clay High School. The shooting happened in the parking lot of some apartments across the street. It's going to be all fun and games until somebody's honor student catches a stray...

Oh, and I found out today that we actually had two shootings yesterday, so the real count is 15 shootings in 9 days. The second one happened in one of the really bad parts of town and nobody died, so it didn't even make the duty report. Basically, a guy fired a couple of rounds into a house where his girlfriend or ex- girlfriend was sleeping. One of the rounds actually struck her, but it had lost so much velocity traveling through the wall that it didn't penetrate. It just gave her a little burn and they found the slug tangled up in the sheets.

There's some, or used to be, duplexes right around there. My grandfather lived in one about 20 years ago.

Does the HC parking lot still resemble a high end car dealership? It did back in the early 90's....I went to TC, though. Not quite the same.

Have fun with the crap....we've had a number of shootings just in the last week.....and an attempted rape. That one could've been prevented, being that I had the suspect in cuffs last Friday after a reported sexual assault....but your counterparts up here didn't come out for it. Ill PM ya, if you wanna hear more. Fun story.

[Mattz]

Originally Posted by Dukeboy01

Yeah, that's not going to happen here. I don't think our new guys even know how to do that anymore. I came on at the tail end of that kind of policing and it was on the way out the door around here by the time I had finished my second year on patrol.

Hah! Hell I am young to this job, but it does seem like most of the new people coming into this work just take their calls and go home. I don't understand that mentality, but oh well, future Chiefs in the making!

[A6Gator]

Originally Posted by msu_grad_121

Wow. Sounds like your sister cities are Detroit and Beirut!

Hey, c'mon don't leave Memphis out of that list...

But, again, we don't have a task force or committee or whatever they call it...sounds pretty effective to me...