I write this article because of the way people (police and unenlightened) like to word things, to achieve certain ends. They manipulate situations to get people who are not ordinarily savvy in such things to give up their rights by using fear-based language and tactics of ordinary crime that occurs every year to push their agenda. In other words, they're full of crap. Dedicated to Berkeleyside.com contributors, too.

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(Article changed on February 26, 2013 at 18:00)

(Article changed on February 26, 2013 at 17:59)

http://www.berkeleyside.com/2013/02/20/west-berkeley-neighbors-ask-for-answers-after-homicide/?fb_action_ids=10200826377764549&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=timeline_og&action_object_map={%2210200826377764549%22%3A542013832499088}&action_type_map={%2210200826377764549%22%3A%22og.likes%22}&action_ref_map=[]

The quotes I am posting are from Berkeleyside's nonsense about the first murder of the year and a couple more isolated incidents of low-level crime that occurs every year.  There is nothing new or spectacular about this information.  Nothing earth shattering.  Nothing remotely out of the ordinary, as highlighted by the words of officer Frankel, at the end of this piece, showing how he's talking out both sides of his department's agenda-driven mouths.

But first, there is this:

"Residents asked police about recent home burglaries, a pepper-spray attack of a woman walking to BART, and how to come up with neighborhood solutions to violence.

Frankel said the best approach for community members is to reach out to police quickly, with as much information as possible, if they spot anything suspicious. (For those with "quality of life" concerns and chronic problems in Area 4, he said the best contact is beat officer Rashan Cummings at 510-981-5774. For time-sensitive issues, or reporting crimes in progress, residents can call 911 for emergencies and 510-981-5900 for non-emergencies.).

"When the switchboard lights up like a Christmas tree, we know something is going down," he said. 'I want you to call about all suspicious activity. That's what I really need you to do: Pick up the phone.'"

My problem: these people are not qualified to know what "suspicious" means or even looks like.  Police even screw it up, and they are "professionals."  I'm out here all the time and I screw it up, quite regularly, too.  And I am someone who is always out here.  So I have more authority on these subjects, more than most.  More than those being told to "report 'suspicious' activities."

Again, I am not suggesting people turn a blind eye to crime.  What I am saying is sometimes "suspicious" is relative and "innocuous," when given time to observe that something deemed suspicious plays itself out.  Also, depending on the age of the person doing the reporting is also a concern.  Elderly people seem afraid of their own shadows, because of the saturation of violence in the "news" media and (unnecessary) pressures being applied on them by people with (hidden) agendas.

So when an elderly white person sees some young black male and he's wearing a hoodie and he's walking through their neighborhood, eating Skittles, he may look "suspicious" to those folks... when he's nothing more than someone just like Treyvon Martin, who did nothing to deserve what he got, from this very same paranoia manifested into violence.  And then, the police and "news" media attempted scapegoating young Treyvon by stating he was "put on suspension from school for 'smoking marijuana'"???

SARCASM ALERT: Yeah, he deserved a death sentence for smoking Cannabis.

I wonder what the response would have been if Treyvon Martin's name was George W. Bush (at the same age), with the very same thing happening... I wonder if Papa Bush would have been sympathetic to this system that had his child murdered.  And then scapegoated, simply because Georgie Boy was partying too hard, which we know he did, much more, in fact, than Treyvon Martin, who was only a "Pot Head."

Again, they miss the point: fix the problems at the top.  The reason there is so much low-level crime, like burglaries, is because the corruption at the top has "trickled down" to the local governments.  Instead of trying to stop the criminal activity of those above them, they instead choose to do what those corrupted are doing.  Shooting at the symptom never works.  You have to go to the choke point.  Otherwise, you are perpetrating the problem instead of managing it.

It's not like there had been five murders since the beginning of the month.  And we all know there will be more, of course, by statistics. 

"Councilwoman Maio remarked that community members who are home during the day bear a 'special responsibility to be the eyes on the street' to watch for anything suspicious, such as people casing homes or knocking on doors."

What?!  How is the average citizen to know what this looks like?  She writes, "anything 'suspicious,' such as 'people casing homes' or 'knocking on doors'"???  Um... okay, who amongst us is qualified to know what such a thing looks like?!  Anyone?!  And this includes myself, who observers quite a bit and can make certain judgement calls, but shouldn't.  What about those who are "shut in" and watch too much television?  And since when did "knocking on doors" become "suspicious"???

The other night, as I walked to my (sleeping) "spot," I noticed a guy "acting 'suspicious.'"  My first impulse was to watch him, and if I were a Panicking Nancy, call the police, according to this article.  I didn't.  I don't even own a phone.  Don't want one, either.  More on that in some other article.  But I digress.  Then I watched as he crossed the dimly-lit street.  He headed over to a filthy dumpster; he was looking for aluminum cans to sell the next day.  Nothing major.  Just another street person trying to survive. 

But if we were to adopt this Fear and Loathing tactic the police (and other hidden elements) are pushing, we will end up with more problems than solutions.  A man or woman trying to survive is going to be screamed at to "put your hands where we can see 'em!," and if he makes the wrong move, out of being mentally ill from killing people a half a world away to "protect the 'freedoms'" of those marginalizing and scapegoating him or her, and not receiving the care he or she should, could be killed by a police officer.

And for what?  Because a few citizens are being frightened to death by television and people with a certain agenda.  People who don't care about these folks, mind you.  Unless it's to control or manipulate them into reactionary behavior.  Eventually we will do it, again.  It will be another name... and people will connect it to Treyvon Martin.  But by then it would have been too late.  There will be yet another victim of unrelated paranoia and misdirected fear and the price will be maiming or death.

Again, fix the problems at the top and the lower part works itself out.  Will there always be crime?  Sure.  We know this.  Even when economic stability is occurring, there will be crime.  However, that crime won't be as prevalent, because more people will be working and be able to feed themselves and their families and habits. 

I love how the corrupt at the top always attempt scapegoating the people at the bottom... the symptom, not the cause.  The cause is political corruption.  They call it "'misappropriation' of funds."  I (and all my friends) call it "theft" and "corruption."

"'Everyone I know feels less safe than five years ago,' noted one woman.  'Is it getting worse?'

"Frankel acknowledged that 'your perception is your reality' but reassured her that numbers are flat or down in Berkeley for most serious crimes."

There it is: trying to scare, at the same time assuring they are doing their job with "violent crime," yet this is what the impetus for all of this fear?!  Which one is it officer Frankel?  And what is all the hullabaloo if "numbers are flat or down in Berkeley for most serious crimes."???  This is nonsense.  This is the police trying to grab more power over its citizens.  And they are doing the frightening.  They are blowing on the flames of that fear. 

You also see the unwarranted fear from television and the agenda-driven with,

"Everyone I know feels less safe than five years ago"...

I don't feel any less safe than five years ago, and I have lived on the streets of Berkeley for three out of those five years.  Unless it's fear of fascists trying to " get rid " of me and others, then maybe.  So, if anyone should feel that , it should be the guy living out here; the guy who sees it every day, over the person hiding in their houses, clutching their remote control, going back and forth from FOX NEWS to MSNBC , thinking they are displaying " balance " in their newscast, but those channels are not any more " newscasts " than are Wing Nuts shouting gibberish on Shattuck Avenue that makes more sense than the Berkeleyside article.

Stop all the fear and loathing and start fixing the corruption of those you (supposedly) "elected" and then you will see the crime statistics drop.  Provide real solutions and legitimate alternatives instead of scapegoating certain socioeconomic groups and you will see those crime statistics go down.  Quit creating a hostile living situation and you will see things improve.  What I see out here is systematic harassment of the poor and homeless by the city (and elsewhere), which only serves to create tension and more issues, something the city seems fine with.  Something they seem to want, judging by their (non) actions on the subject.

There are ways to get this done.  But to get the community up in arms, stirring up a lynch-mob-type mentality, is only going to exacerbate things, not address them.  The next thing you know, while attending one of these "block parties," some genius will bring up "citizen patrols," and before you know it, Treyvon Martin will have another victim to pal around with on the other side of this Idiot Parade.

Scaring people unnecessarily is not fixing anything.

-James Richard Armstrong II

Authors Bio:
I'm a homeless student, writer, and activist... currently panhandling my way through school (and life.).