Reactionary

I think this one caught the public’s attention for two reasons: it occurred in a decent part of town just blocks from the posh and it appears to have been random and pointless. The victim was a radiography worker at Pennsylvania Hospital which is the best-situated of all the Center City hospitals. She had no obvious enemies or anyone anywhere who would want her dead. She wasn’t doing anything illegal. Contrarywise, she was just going to work in the morning as she always did, walking by the main downtown branch of the post office like she always did. And then some guy came up behind her, took a gun to her head, and shot. He didn’t try to rob her or even talk to her at all. The whole thing was caught on tape via the post office’s security cams. The news says police are baffled. It looks totally random though she was targeted by the shooter for some reason. It may have just been the brand of her shoes for all that’s known at this point.

People are stunned. Other people got off at the Ninth Street stop. For all we know, it could have been anyone who was picked and shot. So far, all they have is a composite of a guy who was on the bus who police haven’t been able to find to question. Apparently, they’ve tracked down every other person on that bus that morning. Not as hard as it sounds, I guess since it was a Tuesday early morning and it would have been full of regulars more or less. I’m sure people where glad to come forward. It could have been any one of them. To me, the composite sketch of the missing passenger and the guy on the security tape look the same, but they’re not saying the guy on the bus is a suspect yet. He’s just wanted for questioning.

It’s not like people aren’t shot in Philadelphia. Actually, the city’s been a shooting alley lately with a few kids thrown in who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Little kids. But, as awful as this sounds, people haven’t really paid attention. Why? Well, those shootings have happened among people who have targeted each other for reasons like drugs (the kids were victims of bad aim on the shooters’ parts) and they’ve happened more or less in tough parts of town. But Ninth Street isn’t shady. A little worn down, maybe, but only blocks from one of the most expensive parts of town, Society Hill. A lot of people commute to work on SEPTA. A lot of people ride buses and trains in the morning. From what we know, the lady who was shot wasn’t involved in drugs, crime, the black market, bootlegs, nothing. She just worked in the Radiology department. It’s scary. People have expressed unease with taking the bus to work now, but would that have changed anything? Judging this crime by its randomness, couldn’t it have happened just as easily in a parking garage? Not taking SEPTA isn’t the answer (not like there’s any parking in Center City, anyway). So what is the answer?

Why is there so much violent crime in the United States anyway? Has a study ever been done? If anyone knows of one, please comment it. For my part, I haven’t heard a definite answer. Since we don’t know the reason, it’s hard to come up with a solution. But there are similarities in why they can’t find criminals. Anyone ever noticed what the problem always is? They can’t see their faces in the security video. Everyone knows *someone*, even the admittedly friendless. In the Ninth Street case, we just need someone to come forward and say they know the guy in the composite. What’s wrong with the picture? The dude’s wearing glasses and a baseball cap.

So here’s my proposal. Let’s just pass a law (if Congress will take a time out from their cat fight to vote on it) that bans all headgear especially baseball caps. Another law would ban all eyewear. If someone wore prescription lenses, they would have the option of taking advantage of a federally-funded conact lens fitting and maintenance program. If they didn’t want to wear contacts for whatever reason, they’d have to deal with life not being able to see everything. Sometimes things look better blurry. If it interfered with performing their job duties, there would be a federal program to relocate them to another job. This See Your Face program would enable the perpetrators’ faces to always be in full view, making it easier to catch them after they’d committed their crime.

Does this seem insane to you? I know it is. It’s all somewhat in jest, but something has to be done. Putting cops on the beat isn’t feasible since the cities are too big and there are too few of them. Banning guns won’t do anything since everyday crimes are committed without guns. Personally, I don’t think anyone anywhere should own a gun. If you’re a law-abiding citizen, you have no need for one. And the “We have a Constitutional right!” argument is bullshit since The Right to Bear Arms is linked to the history of the era in which it was written that isn’t relevant today. Violent movies don’t causeviolent behavior. They’re the symptom, not the disease. So why is there so much crime and what can we do to stop it? I have no answers and it appears that no one else does either. Waging wars with everyone else sends the wrong message, of course, but is it the CAUSE?

What I do know is this country is so violent, some places in media-titled “war zones” are much safer than some neighborhoods in the United States. When things like the Ninth Street thing happen, out of the usual profile for shootings, it captures media and public attention. Either way, something has to be done about it, but what?

Posted on May 21st, 2005 under News •  Print •  Email • RSS 2.0 feed • Both comments and pings are currently closed