Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Live In Dallas

Why do liberal Democrats get elected to anything other than dogcatcher in Dallas? Dallas Mayor Laura Miller reportedly bagged on the citizen patrol group known as the Guardian Angels. Gregg Knapp on KLIF carried the story today, as well as Gary McNamara over on WBAP. Miller has seen an increase in crime on the streets of Dallas since she took office. The Guardian Angels have put forth feelers about organizing citizen patrols in the city, in an effort to help cut back on crime. Miller just slapped their faces.

I’m not surprised. Since moving to the Metroplex, I have found hundreds of reasons to be glad I live in Ft. Worth, as opposed to the hellhole that Dallas has become. The school systems are a joke, the police understaffed and underpaid, and Mayor Miller appears to be a typical liberal when it comes to encouraging business in the city.

For example, Miller managed to lose the bid to move the Dallas Cowboys into Dallas proper. Their new stadium is going to end up in Tarrant County, as opposed to the State Fairgrounds. I won’t be surprised when Miller runs out the Cotton Bowl as well.

Miller was also instrumental in pushing through a smoking ban in all Dallas restaurants. According to Fox4News report tonight, an independent study shows the smoking ban resulted in an 11 million dollar loss in revenue for the city restaurant owners. It’s only been in place for slightly over a year. This is typical liberal democrat behavior: Miller knows what’s best for the rest of us, and she won’t let a little thing like free enterprise and common sense get in her way. Miller seems to forget that tax revenues are generated by businesses. If the businesses lose money, the city loses tax dollars. But everyone should be able to breathe a smoke-free atmosphere while they are being mugged.

Miller managed to shaft the Dallas Police Department out of a much-needed raise within a month of her election. That hasn’t exactly helped the crime rate or anything.

Now Miller has slammed on the one thing that would probably help out the crime rate in Dallas. Citizen patrols are probably the only solution, if she is determined not to pay her police officers more, or hire more of them.

This illustrates a point I have been arguing for the last several years: police are not the be-all end-all solution to crime control. That power lies where it always has: in the hands of free citizens.

The police cannot be everywhere. Everywhere they are not is a ripe target for crime. It is up to the citizen himself to deal with crime. For instance, let us assume a home is broken into at night. The homeowner calls 9/11, and begs for the police. The average police response time is probably around 5 minutes or so. That gives the invader plenty of time to kill the whole family, if that is their intention.

Don’t get me wrong. The police do a good job, and I’m glad to have them. They just do not do much to halt crimes in progress; unless they actually see them. A patrol car through the neighborhood might be able to keep some crimes from happening, at least while the car is in the area. Once the car goes around the block, all sorts of bad things can happen.

The police are quite handy in filling out reports. The police can also conduct better investigations after the crime has been committed. They are all but useless when the crime is actually being committed.

It is up to the homeowner to defend himself when faced with a break-in. It is up to the guy walking down the street to defend himself from the mugger. It is up to the woman herself to stop a would-be rapist. In other words, it is the citizens themselves that have to do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to crime control.

In that light, what’s wrong with having citizens band together and patrol the streets? Since the police are shorthanded, why not? The Guardian Angels have done a pretty good job in the cities they have come into. Crime rates have dropped, and they have helped make metropolitan areas much safer. Waiting for the government to help is a long wait in vain. People have to take charge of their own lives, including protection from crime.

Miller’s response to the Guardian Angels coming into town typifies liberal thinking: the individual should look to the state for all its needs, including the most basic rights of self-defense. I’m glad to hear the Guardian Angels are coming to Dallas. It might actually make the place liveable again. In about ten years or so, provided they run off the Democratic mayor, run off all the school board members and start over, and try to make the place business-friendly.

Otherwise, life is good over here in Tarrant County. At least one can walk through downtown Ft. Worth late at night, with little fear of being assaulted by a bum. One can probably even enjoy a smoke, if one is so inclined.