Editorial & Opinion: Time to Think of Creative Solutions to Prevent Homicide
By • January 10, 2024 0 668
As the new year rolled in, readers of the Washington Post were greeted by this front-page story: “2023 Was District’s Deadliest Year in More Than Two Decades: The City Recorded 40 Homicides per 100,000 Residents …” This is a horrifying headline by any measure. Sadly, it’s not new news. Although urban crime has decreased throughout the country, it’s on a precipitous rise here. Carjackings, shootings, retail “shrink” from organized theft, and other examples of gratuitous violence and misery elicit a lot of hand-wringing concern, but concrete, actionable solutions are in short supply. It’s been the same-old, same-old with about the same expected effect.
More law enforcement? No money and tough recruiting. Rehabilitation? Poorly managed programs and mixed results at best. An invigorated justice system? Prosecutors are not prosecuting. More store security guards? Please. Unless they’re SEALs in disguise, their presence is hardly a deterrent. Community interventions. Too small to scale.
It’s time for some fresh thinking and thinking big. Time for all good citizens to come to the aid of their city. And so we turn to you, dear readers, for your thoughts. If you were in charge, what would you do?
Some ideas to get us started:
- Put students to work. Back in the early, scary days of Covid, medical and nursing students who had not yet graduated were called to the front lines to help support beleaguered physician and nursing staffs to manage patient care. It was an unqualified success.
Why not do the same now? Recruit legal, medical, social work, education and other public service student professionals to work alongside the prosecutors/defense attorneys, teachers and others to fill in staffing gaps as they perfect their skills. And let’s not forget the humanities. Artists of all genres are encouraged to apply.
In return for their labor, their universities could award extra credits and their lending institutions could forgive a portion of their loans. A two-fer.
- Create a sense of ownership. We all know that downtown is a ghost town and the city needs housing. What if the building trades, architecture firms, lenders, commercial landlords and others banded together and hired un- or underemployed residents and taught them the art and skill of converting offices into homes. The workers would learn a trade (construction, plumbing, property management, design) and perhaps earn some sweat equity in a future home. The professionals would receive some financial or other incentive for their efforts. Win-win.
- Get kids off the street. Like crime, truancy is on the increase and likely there’s a connection. Many families are struggling with their kids and having trouble keeping them in school. So, let’s put our money and talents into programs that reach students where they are. If not in school, where else can they attend class? Community centers? Barber shops? Parks? Empty store fronts? Libraries? Wherever they gather, that’s where their education should take place. Rethink the curriculum and worry about test results later. Find ways to balance what they need to learn with what they want to learn. Challenging times call for creative measures.
Yes, God is in the details. These may be great ideas or a total waste of time. But we can’t sit back and wail about the state of the District without designing new solutions to old problems.
Government leaders are exhausted. People are anxious and disheartened. It’s time for all of us to come to the aid of our city.
Send your ideas to Editorial@Georgetowner.com We’ll publish them and keep the conversation going.
