Atomic City Talk

I grew up in Oak Ridge in the 50's and 60's, and left in 1965 to spend 20+ years in the Air Force, then went on to another career in electronics and broadcast radio engineering.

When we were visiting Oak Ridge in December 2006 and January 2007, there was a drug related shooting which resulted in death in the Scarboro area.

I recently read in the Oak Ridger about the police taking the weapons and drugs off the streets in the Woodland and Highland View areas of town.

It seemed as though the same people they picked up with the guns and drugs had already been identified before as drug dealers.

How did the town of Oak Ridge get like this? When I grew up there, there were no problems like that. As a child, I was safe to wander all over town finding other kids to play football with. When I lived in the Woodland area as a child, we had a group of kids that would get together and go up to challenge the group of kids on Georgia Ave to a game of football at Blankenship Field.

I don't understand it.

I lived in Fallon, Nevada for several years in the mid to late 70's. At that time, everybody pretty much knew everybody else in Fallon. Fallon has a population about the same size as Oak Ridge, but has Fallon Naval Air Station there, and is now the home of the Navy's Top Gun school.

Today, Fallon has a serious drug problem, just like Oak Ridge does.

There was a 52 year old man in Fallon that was recently sentenced to prison for selling drugs.

This man spent 16+ years in the U.S. Army, then got out, and got hooked on drugs and started selling them.

This same man has 2 sons, who are also in prison. One of his sons was arrested and put in prison for breaking into the local pharmacy and stealing all of their prescription drugs.

The other son is in prison for man slaughter. It seems that he injected his girlfriend with meth, and she OD'ed. By the time he took her to the hospital, she was dead.

He got the drugs that he took and that he injected into his girlfriend from his father.

How can all this be happening in small town america? When I lived in Fallon 30 years ago, our fun was to go out dirt bike or dune buggy riding in the desert.

My wife and I talked about this last weekend. We're both baffled as to how this can be happening in rural small town america.

We both talked about the citizens taking back their neighborhoods. I'm thinking that this is the only way that the problem is going to get solved. It's pretty obvious that the police in these small towns are outnumbered by the thugs that are terrorizing the neighborhoods.

What is the answer to this? Obiviously it's a mess that someone, somehow needs to fix.

Rick M

I think that there has been a general loss of innocence for small towns and even rural communities throughout the US. It's not unique in any way to Oak Ridge. The new era of instant communication and the ability to be totally plugged into big city culture and all of its negative (and positive, too, though that's not the topic of this post) influences and values. The lifestyle of self indulgence is accessible to anyone now. Oak Ridge is just a short hop from Knoxville and Knoxville is a short hop from New York City. Anything that happens in the big city today can happen in Oak Ridge (or Karns or Harriman or Marlow) tomorrow.

The first item needs to be to replace the city manager and his side kick police chief... then get someone in here that has the guts to move on the criminals in an aggressive manner. If we continue to turn our backs then what can one expect.

I think you need to look further than the city manager and the police chief. The police can arrest thugs all day long, but if the county doesn't have a place to keep them and the judges don't have the teeth of the laws to hold them, then they are released. Then the police have to risk their lives to catch them again. It is a revolving door problem. The problem gets worse, with the penal system not knowing what to do with the thugs...rehabilitate them or punish them? The problem is deep, and the answer is not as easy as replacing a city manager who has no jurisdiction on what to do with criminals. I would like to see a police chief that would encourage strict obeyance of the laws, but I also think he must be entirely frustrated with catching these thugs only to find them out on the street again the next day. I think the change will have to begin with the legislature.

"The amount we spend to replace property that is stolen and damaged would easily pay for more jail cells. "

Yep, that'll free up tax money to spend on jails. Let's see, 55K probation/parolees in State of TN. 2500 pop. prison $167 mil. 55K/2500=22 new prisons for today's census. 22*167Mil = 3,674,000,000 in just housing. 55Kx$63/perday housing and that is $1,264,725,000.00 per year for inmate upkeep.

Sound like a plan to me.

Sorry, I really don't want to live in a country that is similar to the Arab world in crime/punishment. That being said, no the present system doesn't work completely but you are off base, and comparatively speaking it is the best system in the World.

Sorry pal, you don't understand public budgeting, unfunded mandates, nor any of the court cases that require TN. to spend what they do on housing State inmates. Grubbs verses the State of Tennessee is the major case. We may very well spend "too much on the thugs". However, those thugs have parents, most of them good people that are just like you and me, working, paying taxes, and leading a law abiding life. The taxes they pay could be considered as up keep of their children who have gone wrong. The votes they cast are as valuable as your's and public policy makers realize this and attempt to balance the two conflicting points of view. It is called politics and the haves vs. the have nots and age old struggle.

The only change needed is truth in sentencing and not the fuzzy math used in calculating sentence structure.

The State of Tennessee has a Victim's Rights Amendment, yet very few exercise those rights. Wonder why? Probably because they 1) got their stuff back, 2) had insurance to cover the loss, or 3) really don't care what happens to the criminal. I have seen all three.

There is a problem but like all your other rants, you have overblown it.

Nice word "esoteric." Do you even know what it means get_real? There is nothing "esoteric" about the information posted by askwhy. His/her opinions about local crime and law enforcement are very common place here in Oak Ridge.
As usual you continue to make excuses for poor police performance. Maybe you should look for another line of work. You sound far more frustrated with those of us who dare to question the results being achieved by the local police, than you are with criminals.
Your attempt to tie the economy to the crime rate reminds me of a drunk leaning on a lamp post. Just another crutch to excuse poor performance.

http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed111500a.cfm

What a funny little article from the folks at Heritage. They couldn't bring themselves to identify the reason for the decline in the numbers of 16-24 year-old males. Of course we know that it was legalized abortion.

The economy does affect certain crimes. It is pretty obvious that the price of gas results in more "drive away without paying" crimes.

However the big four factors for the unexpected drop in the crime rate in the Nineties are:

1. Increases in the Number of Police
2. The Rising Prison Population
3. The Receding Crack Epidemic
4. The Legalization of Abortion
   

Not all of these factors can continue to provide such a positive influence. The rate of abortion is actually dropping a bit and new drug epidemics have lives of their own. But we can continue to assure that all children are wanted and cared for, that prisons are adequate, and that we have adequate police on the street. Taking seriously any major criminal enterprises would be a given as well.

Ineffective factors were:

1. The Strong Economy of the 1990s
2. Changing Demographics
3. Better Policing Strategies
4. Gun Control Laws
5. Laws Allowing the Carrying of Concealed Weapons
6. Increased Use of Capital Punishment
   

These steps may may certain people feel better but they don't really matter much in overall crime.

The data does not bear your point out. Lott is specifically dealt with on page 13 of my referenced article. Other data does not support it and when Lott's own data and process is carried forward to include more concealed carry law enactments, his claim disappears.

Yet your personal experience is not statistically significant. It is very similar to the antidotes from the gun control world. Overall, each of these approaches do nothing to affect the overall crime rate.