Jersey Mike

The Police Blotter must be made public. The Police not releasing this information, well, remaining silent about all muggings unless forced to talk, is not good for Harrisburg. Three per weekend is the general statistic, I was told. I personally know two people who have been mugged, plus myself. Who doesn’t know somebody?

Time for an overhaul of the police department’s strategy towards muggings. It is time for parking enforcement to reduce the target, proactive policing to bring cops to street level, and broad thinking on solutions, to move beyond police into the root causes.

We can solve the problem. But we can’t solve a problem if we don’t know its there.

When I worked at Wink 104, police reports were distributed via fax to us every night. I can’t speak as to whether or not ALL incidents were released, and I can certainly accept that SOME incidents and/or details need to remain private under certain circumstances. But if the reports are released to the media, why not to the public?

Where I live in Shipoke, we are all out front on most warm nights. Perhaps it is time for a little guerilla warfare – get everyone out in front of there houses for the next week – with mace.

what time? I was riding home around midnight and didn’t see anything, and you know I was really keeping an eye out.

Not sure of the time, Terry- neither Coulter at the Mayors office nor the Records office of the police dept will give a lowly blogger like myself any sort of concrete information.

Mike Parker from ABC 27 did get some details verified, however, and will likely be reporting them tonight.

Three (3) different sets of police officials (a uniformed duo on foot, a single canine unit on foot, and an undercover unit in vehicle) made several appearences between 8-11pm in mid-town neighborhoods – Reilly to Kelker, 2nd to 3rd – last night. This is interesting as to the “routes” and presence elsewhere.

I hope the reporter and friend are o.k.; action needs to be taken.

Here’s to wondering who will be the next mayor of HBG and, more imporantly, what issue gets s/he there….

I just got off the phone with the freelance reporter- she’s shaken, but okay.

Said they went to HQ to look at mugshots today- but it’s likely that the assailants won’t be caught.

And even if they do, someone else will replace them on the streets.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- it’s gonna be a long, hot summer in Harrisburg.

Elissa has the best approach. True community involvement is the best way to cut back on crime. Meet your neighbors, enjoy time on your front porches, upgrade your security lighting … troublemakers never want to be seen, so it stands to reason that they’ll avoid areas with more light and more sets of eyes.

Thank you for your support floor9. Except for my typo – my words were true. What bothers me now is that this is the first story I have seen that it was a female.. One would think walking with a partner was enough. May I suggest getting in touch with surrounding neighborhoods, such as the Shipoke Association, to form a true build up of forces. We have similar problems here – but as of late, except for some homeless people and questionables, I have not seen what is going on in Midtown. Midtown is extremely important to protect, with all the projects underway, so it is not only up to just the people in Midtown to take the streets back – but to form a new union so that we can ALL take the streets back. This past week is unacceptable. We deserve better. We are smarter than those who invade and we are certainly smart enough to bring out minds AND bodies together to put an end to the useless and harmful violence. We deserve safe streets. But it is not the mayor’s fault nor the police. If City Council would work more closely with the mayor, we would have more police. So, we in the meantime need to send our OWN message. Gather. Light Up the Streets. March.
Let me know how I can help to organize a quite action. Afterall – if everyone is in Midtown and not Shipoke, Bellevue or other neighborhoods, we miss the point. I believe, we can make an immediate difference. And, please, everyone – get mace or training for tasers, which are very serious and not easy to learn – but please – no more guns. I wish you all safety in Midtown. Here to help you. Just ask.

Excuse the other typo – we need QUIET ACTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One more point – regarding our mayor and police. Do not understate their hard work. Do not play a political game on this. This isn’t politics. This is life. Harrisburg is no different from any other city across the US. The American lifestyle has permitted these things to happen. But remember, and this is important, WE are the citizens who are responsible for making the difference on all matters that count to making this community better. Please be aware, and respectful to all of officials who, just like you and me, would rather be home feeling safe and sound. They work hard and now it is our time to repay their services with respect and the same dedication to making our homes safe, sound and protected.

“Harrisburg is no different from any other city across the US”

I understand your point and respect your opinion, however, in any other city across the US, we, the people, could actually get factual, real-time information from our police department and our mayor. That doesn’t seem to happen here in HBG….

Good points, except for the Taser: Tasers are incredibly easy to have turned on yourself, especially in a hand-to-hand fight. Be careful. Mace is a slightly better choice, but watch out for the blowback; imagine macing your attacker, then not being able to see or breathe well enough to get away. Unfortunately, neither is likely to stop or slow an amped-up crackhead. And once that adrenaline kicks in full-force, expect to lose a substantial amount of vision, hearing, and rational thought. The ability to aim and think rationally are the first to go.

I agree Floor0- proper training is essential. From my understanding, unless you shoot someone in your sleeping quarters, aka bedrrom, guns will not win the courtroom decision. Therefore, I can nor support the guns as a solution.

That’s part of it, yes. The Uniform Firearms Act also states in part: “The use of deadly force is not justifiable under this section unless the actor believes that such force is necessary to protect himself against death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping or sexual intercourse compelled by force or threat”, then goes on to list exceptions. One of those exceptions is “(nor is it justifiable if) the actor knows that he can avoid the necessity of using such force with complete safety by retreating … except that the actor is not obliged to retreat from his dwelling…” (emphasis mine)

Another point to consider is that drawing a gun on a group of 10 may not be the wisest idea if more than one of them has a gun. One also needs to give consideration to where those bullets will go if you miss; you’re surrounded by residential dwellings.

Truly a shame. I hope this doesn’t become a regular occurrence.

@Shawn Crime is a regular occurrence, also one of the problems we seem to be having is an accurate portrayl of how regular. I’ve been victimized before and am fortunate to be waiting for the evidence locker to release my property (7 months later!).

I believe the phone number to the Chief of Police is (717) 255-7279. Ask him how regular muggings are.

PS Is there a better way to organize and implement ‘Crime Watch’? Web 2.0, crowdsourcing and distributed networks come to mind but is that really feasible? Maybe an SMS service?