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Derrick1965
F L I N T O I D
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Flint reported 36 homicides in 2009; total was nine more than in 2008
By Laura Angus | Flint Journal
January 03, 2010, 3:00PM
GENESEE COUNTY — The death of a 9-year-old quadriplegic girl at her adoptive mother’s Flint home was among the 36 homicides in the city in 2009.
The city reported 27 homicides in 2008.
“I think anytime you have homicide it’s too many,” said Flint police Chief Alvern Lock said. “Any is too many.”
In April, the death of Shylae Thomas received national attention after she was found dead and stuffed in a plastic bin at Vienna Township storage facility. Officials believe the special needs girl died at her Flint home had been neglected and malnourished by her adoptive mother and biological aunt, Lorrie Thomas.
Thomas, 40, later pleaded no contest to charges of involuntary manslaughter and now faces up to 15 years in prison.
In August, Flint City Councilman Bernard Lawler’s election night victory was marked with grief when his nephew, Hugh “Jermaine” Lawler, died in a barrage of gunfire hours earlier on a sidewalk on the city’s north side.
In November, Flint police investigated a triple homicide when four people were shot while sitting in a car on Mackin Road.
The city’s final homicide came in the early hours of New Year’s Eve when Michael A. Murphy was found shot to death on the east side.
Such slayings helped earn Flint its 2009 ranking by CQ Press as the fifth most dangerous city in the country — one spot higher than its ranking the year before.
But Lock said he doesn’t pay much attention to the rankings.
“If you get caught up in those rankings, you lose sight of what our job is,” he said.
Don Cardwell, 43, of Flint Township, said the homicide rate is “pretty bad,” and creating more activities for younger adults could help the violence.
“Right now you’ve got a lot of young people with nothing to do,” he said. “There’s no jobs. And if you look at their backgrounds, unstable environments don’t usually make for stable people.”
Outside of Flint, Mt. Morris Township had six homicides last year, including the slaying of 13-year-old DonNesha Williams who was hit by a stray bullet as she rode her bike near the Flint border. Four teens were later charged in the death.
In Burton, Jeffery Ries, 35, was accused of killing his mother, Irene Ries, 62, with a hammer and staying in their Burton home with her body for up to two months before it was discovered last month.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said it’s “our wish for the New Year every year” to have fewer violent crimes and homicides in the county, but the numbers from 2009 reflect the “despair” in Flint caused by poverty, unemployment and hopelessness coupled with drug and gang activity.
“The numbers would be a lot worse if not for our effective law enforcement team,” he said. “I truly believe that.”
Leyton said he hopes for more jobs in 2010 to help drop the level of violent crime in the county.
Such violence impacts more than just the victims — families and friends are also touched by the loss of life in the city, said Lock.
He said while there were more homicides in Flint this year, he believes that overall the city is improving in regards to violent crime,.
Still, Lock admits “we’ve got a long way to go.”
Officials say 2010 will be a year of more neighborhood policing, new mini stations and more volunteers to drop the number of killings in the city.
This year, Lock said he plans to implement more neighborhood policing initiatives where officers work in the neighborhoods themselves.
Neighborhood policing will also help curtail the less crimes, like domestic incidents and assaults, that can snowball into more violent crimes.
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling intends to open mini stations in each of the city’s wards because officers have less transit time to file reports and can spend more time on the streets.
This month, the city will announce citywide training for volunteers in block clubs, neighborhood watches and mini stations to get those who want to help the police keep the streets safe “all on the same page.”
Information about the training will be announced next month, and Lock said the police needs citizens’ help to keep an eye on city streets. He said he wants volunteers to feel welcome and part of the solution to the city’s crime problem.
“The problem that we have is not something we can solve by ourselves,” he said.
Last edited by Derrick1965 on Sun Jan 03, 2010 7:04 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Sun Jan 03, 2010 6:11 pm |
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twotap
F L I N T O I D
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Derrick. what did you think was going to happen with another PC correct liberal democrat at the helm???
And this classic quote.
“Right now you’ve got a lot of young people with nothing to do,” he said. “There’s no jobs".
HEY dog!!! what you wanna do?? we got no jobs, we got nothin to do, I know lets go bust some caps in somebodys ass. Jeez what a concept. |
_________________
"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Sun Jan 03, 2010 6:37 pm |
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Derrick1965
F L I N T O I D
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| people in this town are scared to do anything because of race issues. We don't care close the schools because were doing it to a certain race, we don't dare close a community center cause we are doing it to a certain races. |
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Sun Jan 03, 2010 7:06 pm |
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FlintCityMole
F L I N T O I D
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| The Police officers are depressed and upset with Walling right now. |
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Sun Jan 03, 2010 10:28 pm |
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00SL2
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
twotap schreef:
“Right now you’ve got a lot of young people with nothing to do,” he said. “There’s no jobs".
Young people who want to work do not go out looking for trouble just because there's not a job for them. The real troublemakers are likely unemployable anyway. |
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Sun Jan 03, 2010 11:55 pm |
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1pissedoffguy
F L I N T O I D
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What Flint needs is ( drum roll).................................................................
MIDINIGHT BASKETBALL, that's correct, Clinton was right.What ghetto cities need is all night , indoor basetball courts! Just give the kids a place to play and they won't take to violence. So simple and so straight forward . If that doesn't work at least it will give them the leg up when they go to prisons and can have marathon weight training sessions (also on the taxpayers dime) . At least the criminals in America won't be obese.
Next well have get the funding for the new running shoes the rest of us will be needing . Oh,and pass me one of those bullet proof vests. |
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Mon Jan 04, 2010 12:41 am |
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twotap
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
The real troublemakers are likely unemployable anyway.
Which proves the point that lack of jobs has nothing to do with Flints crime spree. |
_________________
"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Mon Jan 04, 2010 8:46 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| Employers want an educated work force. |
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Mon Jan 04, 2010 10:33 am |
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FlintCityMole
F L I N T O I D
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Young people in Flint?
quote:
00SL2 schreef:
quote:
twotap schreef:
“Right now you’ve got a lot of young people with nothing to do,” he said. “There’s no jobs".
Young people who want to work do not go out looking for trouble just because there's not a job for them. The real troublemakers are likely unemployable anyway.
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Mon Jan 04, 2010 11:17 am |
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FlintCityMole
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
untanglingwebs schreef:
Employers want an educated work force.
Well they sure aren't gonna get that here |
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Mon Jan 04, 2010 11:18 am |
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FlintCityMole
F L I N T O I D
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| I guess I need to get some work done today, but need to have lunch first. Until tommorow my Flint Talk friends. |
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Mon Jan 04, 2010 11:30 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
1pissedoffguy schreef:
What Flint needs is ( drum roll).................................................................
MIDINIGHT BASKETBALL, that's correct, Clinton was right.What ghetto cities need is all night , indoor basetball courts! Just give the kids a place to play and they won't take to violence. So simple and so straight forward .
Basketball is the answer. That's why a young man down the street pulled out a gun and started shooting at his cousin when they disagreed about whether a shot the cousin made was good. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Mon Jan 04, 2010 12:48 pm |
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twotap
F L I N T O I D
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Nothing like carrying a piece while you are dribblin jumpin and makin your moves, thats probably why he missed the shot.  |
_________________
"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Mon Jan 04, 2010 12:54 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The one good thing about some of the basketball programs was the requirement that the students study for a minimum of 1 hour before they could play. Tutors were available and some students helped others.
It made a difference. There are some very bright and qualified students in the flint system, but those who fall behind never catch up. |
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Mon Jan 04, 2010 3:42 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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How is Walling going to make the city safer by using more community police ? We don't have enough police now.
Word on the street. Cameras are coming to the neighborhoods, but they want citizens to monitor them from their home computers. Death Wish anyone? |
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Mon Jan 04, 2010 3:59 pm |
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