Why the Prospects for Madison Are So Bleak: Part I

Madison is going to have a tough time combating rising crime. While the Milwaukee problem is talk radio blather from right-wingers without a clue, in Madison it is do-gooder lefties who refuse to recognize the nature of the problem.

While Lisa Subeck understands that it is going to take a collaborative effort, Southwest side needs more than just cops... to combat crime and poverty, she misses one vital point. She refuses to acknowledge that Madison does not have the capacity to house an endless stream of low income families from other cities. In a letter to the editor of The Capital Times, she says,

...former Mayor Paul Soglin fought increased shelter capacity out of fear that more shelter would attract more homeless people. Soglin was wrong then, and our current mayor is wrong now...

...I can honestly say that not one of them came to Madison because of the wonderful shelter accommodations. Instead, they are born and raised here or they choose Madison for the same reason so many of us do: friends or family already living here, educational or job opportunities, to get away from the drugs and violence in larger cities, or just looking for a better life.

In the 1990's, residents of shelters and occupants of transitional housing were surveyed. Those who were new to Madison in the past three years or less ran as high as 70%. While Lisa is correct that many low-income families choose Madison as a destination for the same reason as middle income families, the quality of life, it is inescapable that Madison is a magnet for those in need of shelter.

And the problem is worsened because the efforts to move people out of poverty and the need for subsidized shelter are not as effective as the efforts to provide that shelter.

On September 15, 2007 The Capital Times article RACE ENTERS DISCUSSIONS OVER CRIME CRACKDOWN brought this exchange:

"It's clear there are racial undertones to a number of issues being raised in the public safety meetings," mayoral aide Enis Ragland said in an interview Friday. "Our job is to make sure people understand the focus is on behavior, not race or ethnicity."...

..."I really don't know," Lengfeld (Police Captain when asked why so few people of color attended the meeting) said in an interview Friday. "Maybe they're not vested enough in the neighborhood to try to make changes when they may not be living there anymore.

"But this will fail if we don't get them involved," he said...

...Peter Munoz, executive director of Centro Hispano, said the "people from Chicago" remarks definitely are code. But the stereotypes don't make any sense anyway, he said.

The bottom line is that so long as race and poverty are intertwined, the subject of race cannot be avoided. The key is acknowledging that it exists. Ragland is correct noting that the focus must be on behavior, not race. Lengfeld is correct in noting that if the low income community, which is predominately non-white, must be engaged if efforts to combat poverty and crime are to succeed. And Munoz is correct about 'people from Chicago' being code words.

The reality is that areas populated by recent low income arrivals to Madison are posing the toughest public safety challenges. And they are predominately non-white. Denying that is a barrier to solving the problem.

Sides must be chosen. Regardless of race, neighborhood, or income, everyone must decide on which side of the behavior line they fall. Then it is necessary to take sides on the solution. Those who support only law enforcement will support a system that continues to incarcerate blacks at record rates.

Those who support only housing alternatives will support a system that does nothing but warehouse families and continue the abysmal cycle of crime and poverty.

Those who choose law enforcement, housing support, and strategies to enhance families and break the cycle of poverty will support a system that works. But they had better get out their checkbooks.

Comments

[Michael Basford]

Once again, you lay out this issue in a very clear manner that recognizes the challenges the community faces and the way out for those challenges. If you listen very carefully, you can hear the sound of it falling on deaf ears.

[antpoppa]

A question posed in the 60's/70's in the United States, and in France, 1770, prior to the overthrow of the Kings empire… Is crime an early form of revolution, a pre-political form of rebellion , or is crime a form of social control?

http://bonjourlafrance.net/france-history/french-revolution.htm
http://www.historyisaweapon.org/defcon1/crimecontrol.html

[rag]

Just adding police doesn't solve it. Nor does a stack of do-gooder programs.

Change has to come from within -- person by person, house by house, block by block.

All the police do is react to what was presented to them. It's up to the community to clean up its act.

[Emily]

Thanks for laying this out in a clear, concise manner. I, too, am afraid it will only fall on mostly deaf ears.

I used to drive for Women's Transit Authority (before well-meaning incompetents drove it into the ground) and regularly got an ear-full from low income working women about the problems they and their communities faced. It was clear that just extra police or just more housing alone weren't going to help solve the problems. Plus, Section 8 was continually trying to place these women and their children in neighborhoods where they didn't feel safe.

In addition to better policing and better housing options, there needs to be a lot of work done to improve public education, extracurricular and employment opportunities in those areas most in need. Bandaids for these issues are all well and good, but they shouldn't come at the cost of failing to tackle long term solutions.

[Dan Sebald]

Emily, sounds like you could be helpful at city committee and common council meetings to identify solutions.

[Emily]

Dan - assuming you're being sincere, that's not a bad idea. If I were a better person, I would have been going already. Maybe I'll find the time, commitment (and the ego) to make it to one yet.

[Dan Sebald]

I'm sincere Emily. Any day is a good day to be a better person.