Crack houses in Newton
Everyone's heard of this morning's "execution-style" killing of insurance agent Edward Schiller in a parking garage off Rte. 9. All the news reports express a sense of surprise, noting that Newton was just voted the "safest city in America."
Besides the fact that such a terrible crime occured at all, what disturbs me about news reports like this is how little the reporters that write them know about Newton. It's not just a city of contented suburbanites, yet that's what they want to see, and portray to outsiders.
As in any community, there are a lot of complex personal problems and relationships among the people that live in Newton. There are also a lot of people committing crimes, ranging from assault to drug dealing to prostitution to theft. Take a look at the Newton Tab police blotter, or turn on a police scanner to 470.8375 for a few hours, and you'll see what I mean. Over the years, there have been murders, hostage situations, terrible cases of child abuse, muggings ... A police buddy of mine recently told me there are even crack houses in Newton.
Yes, crack houses.
The statistics behind the "safest city in America" don't tell the whole story. They play down some very real social problems in Newton, mariginalize people that need help, and give a false sense of security to people who live and work here.
Besides the fact that such a terrible crime occured at all, what disturbs me about news reports like this is how little the reporters that write them know about Newton. It's not just a city of contented suburbanites, yet that's what they want to see, and portray to outsiders.
As in any community, there are a lot of complex personal problems and relationships among the people that live in Newton. There are also a lot of people committing crimes, ranging from assault to drug dealing to prostitution to theft. Take a look at the Newton Tab police blotter, or turn on a police scanner to 470.8375 for a few hours, and you'll see what I mean. Over the years, there have been murders, hostage situations, terrible cases of child abuse, muggings ... A police buddy of mine recently told me there are even crack houses in Newton.
Yes, crack houses.
The statistics behind the "safest city in America" don't tell the whole story. They play down some very real social problems in Newton, mariginalize people that need help, and give a false sense of security to people who live and work here.
posted by Borderline at 1/13/2006 10:52:00 PM
1 Comments:
I love the blog. I read it every day but I have to respectfully disagree with your assessment that there are "crack houses" in Newton. I do agree with most of what you state regarding crime and it does happen in every city in America. We do also have some losers who choose to deal drugs from there homes and the police in Newton take it seriously and act on it. But to give the perception that there are houses where numerous people come to loiter and recreationally smoke crack is wrong.
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