What happened is that they were stopped by the cops on 45th.

The chances of your friend being mugged near 45th and Baltimore last night honestly were pretty slim. PPD is at the gas station in marked cars almost every half-hour; unmarked detective cars are also roaming the neighborhood pretty frequently these days.

I reported a suspicious individual who sat in a car outside the People's Market for over an hour---who only left his car when the cops arrived. So, they were on the block anyway waiting for him to return to his car.

Aside from that, given that most people who walk down 45th St are going to or from Baltimore, how positive can he be that he was being followed?

__________________
I went to the territory to renew my supply of stories.

Elbow Room
----James Alan McPherson

I haven't been following diligently the surges in crime in West Philly in the past year, partially because it's hard to do so and still maintain a feeling of safety and security from day to day.

However, word on the streets is that a lot of the crime happening in the University City and slightly west-of-that neighborhoods is being committed by people under the age of 18.

I am a young woman (despitet he screen name), and I was attacked last November by three young men who live in the neighborhood. I was on my bike, riding at about 15 miles/hr, on Osage between 46th and 47th, about a block from my home. It was about 830pm (after dark), they knocked me off my bike and held me to the ground while we fought for a few minutes. I stopped fighting them when I looked into the eyes of the young man right over me and saw that he was just as scared as I was, in panic. Turned out they wanted my bike, took it, and left me there. I called 911 right away and Philadelphia police caught two of the three and got my bike back (with damage) within five minutes of my call.

The two things I'm most confused/feel most helpsless and outraged about are these:
1. These are teenagers, all with 5-7 years worth of criminal records.
2. Two men saw my attack and did NOTHING. One was a man who looked to be about 25 or so, probably a Penn student or the like, who was crossing Osage at 47th, about 100 feet from where it happened. After my attackers left, I screamed at him to help, he came up and apologized that he didn't do anything because he "thought you were with them." The other was a middle-aged man sitting in his car on the side of the road, about 30 feet from where it happend. He got out of his car after the attackers left and apologized that "I just didn't notice it was happening."

It was heartening to see an earlier post about the man who tried to come between the group of attackers and the victim on Springfield. But he got beat up too.

What are we supposed to do if we see this kind of thing happening? I hated those men for a long time for not helping me, and then for lying to me about why. But I'm still not sure what I would have done.

And how How involved in the reconciliation/healing/punishment processes of our attackers and our neighbors' attackers ought we be getting?

It seems not to make sense for us only think of "our" safety. Clearly violence comes from a place of unsafeness, or desperate need. I feel strongly about this but don't know what to do about it.

I was disapointed that, after my attack, and given that my attackers were minors, that there was not a single channel for a reconciliation process. The young men were arrested and laughed at and yelled at right on the street, by 10 or 15 police officers, and in front of the whole neighborhood. They were treated as worthless.

It seems that what follows that kind of treatment, over and over, in the home and on the streets, is feelings of hatred, alienation, desperation, and resentment -- which only keeps these young people committing crimes.

Any thoughts about these things are appreciated.

Yes, I agree. That's a better way to describe the incident.

There was a helicopter hovering for at least half an hour somewhere above the 51st and Baltimore area around midnight. Anyone know what that was about?

33rd and Baring, home invasion and robbery 11am on a Tuesday.
I was in class, and a 43 year old man kicked in my door to take everything of value.

Crumbumb, Baring Street is a nice street, relatively speaking, too.

Baring is the nicest residential street in Powelton village in my book. Spectacular houses and not so trafficy or burdened with crappy Drexel student rentals.

So I take it if you know the age of the guy who broke into your house, Jen Ragen, that the cops nabbed the guy and its going to trial?

Again about the terminology, not to be a stickler, but a "home invasion" is when the guy comes to your house and points a gun in your face while you are at home. Very, very scary - and doesn't happen that often outside of the circles of drug dealers targeting eachother and Asian mobsters. If someone breaks into your apartment while you are in class, that is a simple burglary.

Yikes, thats a little too close to home for me.

__________________
- George -

http://www.barackobama.com

Had a car stolen from me yesterday. 46th & Chester.

__________________
Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian. - Robert Orben

When I come home and see a bootprint on my bed, thats close enough to call Home Invasion.

And yes, Baring is nice. It even boasts those residential parking passes and limited parking for those without, to limit the parking of "crappy drexel renters."
My little secret of course, is that I am a crappy Drexel renter. Its just that as a native philadelphian, i had my car registered and insured in the 19104 zip, thus making me eligible for the parking pass.