Commissioner Bob Langstaff has said that downtown is one of the safest areas of town. Statistics released indicate the exact same thing. But after the recent brawl downtown, more and more people are doubting what they’re being told and trusting what they see, and that’s not good for downtown Albany. Frankly, the only shocking thing about the brawl is that something like this didn’t happen sooner.
Police can do little to prevent crime, despite their best efforts. Everyone always says to increase police presence, but police can’t be everywhere. In this instance, there will be questions about where the police presence was. After all, there was a rap concert downtown. There should have been law enforcement present, right?
Whether there was or not is actually irrelevant. The fact that surveillance cameras were put in downtown to supposedly prevent this sort of thing is irrelevant too.
What actually is relevant is that parents have apparently dropped the ball in raising their children to be decent human beings. Everywhere you go, you’re bound to see some unruly kids. It’s probably as old a problem as there is. I can picture the medieval lord lamenting the actions of the youth in the village. But things have ramped up.
In my teenage years, we were likely to get busted for things like drinking underage or tresspassing when “rolling” someone’s yard, that idiotic rite of passage that was both wrong and non-destructive. Today, teens are far more likely to get arrested for taking part in brawls or shooting classmates than we were. So what do we do?
Some may try and think about what kind of legislation can be passed to prevent this kind of thing, but let me ask you this: isn’t this already illegal? We’ve already got laws against just this sort of thing, and they didn’t prevent this from happening.
No, the problem truly lies with the parents shirking their responsibility. Many parents will pass their kids off to grandparents, aunts, uncles, or whoever else will take care of their little bundle of joy in an effort to put off the act of actually raising their child. They’ll put it off indefinitely, if possible. Unfortunately, that prior generation didn’t seem to do that good a job in the first place, otherwise they wouldn’t be in that boat in the first place.
The solution is actually simple in concept, but difficult in implementation. Peer pressure.
If everyone in the community began to basically shun those who are irresponsible parents, you would start to see fewer and fewer. If everyone in town points at these people and said “you suck as a parent and we’re the ones getting stuck paying for your pathetic lack of effort,” you would start to see a shift in their attitudes.
No, I’m not dumb enough to imagine it will happen, but I do know what would happen if it did. Peer pressure doesn’t just affect teens, but affects everyone at almost any age. Yes, there will always be those who don’t care what you think, and in many instances that’s just fine. But it would affect enough to radically change attitudes.
Just wondering if anyone knows if SOWEGA Tax Service had or was required to have a permit to throw a party on public property. Also is there a fee for using the property for private parties?
It sad that a few disrupt what should have been a nice event. If we look at the situation deep down to the root, the logical answer involves when some people become parents. Some people should become parents when or if they personally mature to that level of responsibility. Of course, those who aren’t ready aren’t bright enough to realize it.
Ask young parents (under 23) if things would have been better if they waited seven years and they give you a quick yes. The kids themselves would have better lives. The 85% of decent Americans spend scarce resources addressing the mess created by the worst 15%. On my blog this weekend, I wrote that Michelle Obama should start a Cease Corp with Clint Eastwood’s Grand Tarino character in mind. While that sounds dramatic, I am just tired of leaders holding their tongues about the obvious source of many American problems.
Hey, Retired General Russel Honore should head the Cease Corp with the same straight talk he brought to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
Wilson, thanks for suggesting that someone look at the public records. I just did. SOWEGA Tax Services’ Alfred Hosely did rent Veterans Park Amphitheatre and got permission to have Front Street closed between West Oglethorpe and West Whitney. They expected as many as 3,000 people to attend and the city manager says in public records that APD officers would work the event and that Hosely would pay them. So … 3,000 were expeced, 200 attended and all hell still broke loose. But … the fights occurred across Oglethorpe from Veterans Park, so I don’t think Mr. Hosely can be held accountable for the raucous behavior that occurred away from the venue.
Will. You made me think of another angle. We must get away from politically-correct tip-toeing. How did we become so misguided that our initial reaction to virtually every bad event is finger-pointing.
Al Hosely isn’t to blame. The parents aren’t to blame. APD isn’t to blame. I’m not saying that in hindsight, they might have done something differently – but for once, let’s put the blame squarely where it belongs.
I blame the spoiled, irresponsible, selfish, immature bullies who flaunted their arrogant, above-the-law attitude, and self-centered stupidity in such a manner as to ruin the event for the rest of the attendees. As an unintended consequence of their childishness, they vandalized the fragile attempts of those attempting to improve the reputation of our city and specifically, our downtown. I’ll bet this really impressed the out-of-towners attending the weekend event at the Hilton.
I hope the courts throw the book at those convicted as an example that our community will no longer tolerate such behavior. The Chamber of Commerce should be making a victim-impact statement at the sentencing, if these arrestees are convicted. The Downtown Merchants Association should be there too. With the City of Albany and the Hilton Hotel. Stand on your feet and oppose those who would destroy your town’s reputation!
Only then can you begin to improve downtown. Only then will people feel safe downtown. If we don’t stand up to thuggery – it will rule the city.
Give them the max. Throw the book at them. Make it a memorable event. Let this be the last straw.
…or molly coddle them and blame their parents. What’s your choice?
Kevin,
Thanks for checking. I’m glad to learn procedures were followed. I may switch accounting firms. My CPA just sends me a bill.
Tom,
Downtown is a VERY VERY safe part of town ALMOST every night of the week. The times downtown some people don’t feel safe, Thu-Sat LATE NIGHT outside of Club Eclipse, and Club Chill, and on nights when there is a ASU club sponsored event at the State Theater.
I say this to make a point, even those times downtown isn’t really unsafe, college kids get drunk and cause a ruckus in towns across the US every night of the week. Albany is no different.
I’ve seen bar fights in NW Albany as big as this “riot” and they where quieted and settled without the Police or media knowing about them.
I’m just rambling at this point but I work downtown 7 nights a week between midnight and 2AM, I see more police presence there than any other part of the city. What I do think is that given that the clientele after hours downtown typically black college students some people automatically “feel unsafe”.
I was waiting in line at a gas station the other night. (Couldn’t go in because the store was locked for security reasons) There were maybe 6-7 black college students there. As I was waiting he said, “are you nervous”, I lifted the right side of my shirt winked at him and said, “Not really, should I be?”
I never disputed the safety of downtown, only that this event happened in a place claimed by many to be safe. The statistics back up the assertions, and I have nothing to counter that.
But Cartman, while I blame the kids for this incident itself, who can prevent the next one? The parents are the only ones who can do anything to prevent something like this from happening again.
That said, we are fortunate that it was just a fight and not a gun battle which would obviously have been much worse.