Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff
Did you know that we're finally negotiating the withdrawal of our troops -- from New Orleans?
That's right. There are still 360 National Guardsmen in the city. They're supposed to leave beginning July 1, but Mayor Ray Nagin is hoping they won't.
Indeed, residents of New Orleans are tired of the crime. And a CNN report this week insinuates there are two New Orleans: a safe one for tourists, another, more dangerous one, for many residents.
Most types of violent crime are up in post-Katrina New Orleans, as similar crimes around the country are largely decreasing.
"Blood's not spilling in the French Quarter. But it is in many neighborhoods. And it's just not fair, natives say," CNN said. "Until somebody, somehow stops the rapes and shootings, some Katrina exiles refuse to come home."
Somebody? Somehow?
Mayor Nagin seems to suggest the power is in the people's hands.
"The citizens are stepping forward and saying, 'This is our city and we're going to fight for it and bring it back," he says.
We hope he's right. But the tenor of the CNN report seems to be that this problem is being "imposed" on New Orleans residents, and that somebody else ought to do something.
Not even an aggressive police force -- and New Orleans officers are working 12-hour shifts this summer -- can make neighborhoods safe.
That's up to the neighbors themselves.
And too often, they don't get involved and help police.
In fact, there's a sinister "Stop Snitching" campaign under way in various places across the country that actually and actively discourages people from cooperating with police in solving crimes.
Some authorities have said the stop-snitching campaign hasn't gotten much traction, and perhaps understandably: The ones who don't want you to snitch are normally the ones you'd be snitching on.
Still, the campaign is a virus spreading unhealthy attitudes toward police and law and order. And some officials say it's hurting law enforcement. A prosecutor in Pittsburgh once had to stop a victim of a crime -- a victim! -- from wearing a big, bold "Stop Snitching" T-shirt into court. The guy walked out, and let the case be dismissed, rather than turn his shirt inside-out.
That's just sick. And that kind of attitude helps make inner cities sick.
"In almost every one of my homicides, this happens: 'I don't know nothin' about nothin'," the Pittsburgh prosecutor told USA Today . "There is that attitude, 'Don't be a snitch.' And it's condoned by the community."
We don't know if the campaign has taken root in New Orleans, but it's the exact opposite of what's needed in all of our cities. People need to stop using their silence and complicity to enable criminals who are degrading the quality of life in urban America.
Fighting crime is as much about attitude as anything. You can't have the attitude that someone else is going to create the kind of community that you want.
And you can't treat the police like they're the enemy.
