Yesterday I wrote a short post on a series of unconnected events in Springfield which the media (22 News, Masslive, and WesternMass News) took to be as indicative of the city spiraling out of control vis a vis crime. There was a domestic dispute, a drug deal gone bad, a bank robbery, a food truck robbery, and an incident where someone fired a gun without an apparent target in mind. No one dead, only the two robberies involved strangers (though I think bank employees might be aware that banks get robbed), and yet the nightly news begins with a sullen faced reporter claiming that Springfield residents were “hoping” for a respite from the violence.
In just four days this week there have been suburban and exurban crashes leaving three dead and at least one more person critically injured.
Here:
Here:
Here:
And here:
No breathless reporters standing in front of DPW headquarters, no news anchors melancholically wondering if suburban drivers are begging for a day without mayhem or death, no feature stories in the paper narrating the horrors of death on the roadways.
As far as the city violence goes; my dad died 16 years ago and I don’t have a son so I’m safe on that account, I don’t intend to buy heroin, and I’m not a bank teller. I wonder what the three dead people would say if we offered them the chance to change places with the food vendor who was pistol whipped and robbed…and whose assailant was arrested immediately thereafter?
Oh yeah, they wouldn’t say anything, because they’re dead.
Right on Steve – keep telling it! And take a look at this post over at City Observatory
http://cityobservatory.org/lets-talk-about-neighborhood-stigma/