The Sherman Park
Community is a community of real “Contrast” representing urban
America in both the best and worst of what “urban” means.
When at it’s best
it is a melting pot with Black, White, Asians, African,
Middle-eastern, Indian, Pakistani, Native American, Christian, Jews,
Muslim and Hindu. As for the worst, it is a community with more crime
then would be found in most suburban communities. Stolen cars are a
regular part of the community dialogue on the community bulletin
board, as is the conversation of homes that are vandalized and
robbed. A home, on my block recently burned and the original debate
included a dialogue about the house being torched by vandals until it
was revealed that a poorly installed piece of equipment caused the
fire.
As a members of the
Community, we have an obligation to look out for one another. Not
just blacks looking out for blacks because “black lives matter”
but blacks looking out for whites and whites looking out for blacks
and Jews looking out for Christian’s and Christians looking out for
Jews and Muslims looking out for Jews and Jews looking out for
Muslims because we all depend on one another for peaceful and safe
coexistence.
Recently, a member
of the Community posted to the local Community Bulletin Board a
picture of a car speeding down a street at a speed so dangerous that
had the person lost control or if a child would have stepped into the
street, certain tragedy would have resulted. This is a common daily
occurrence. The person who posted the picture suggested that all of
the neighbors post pictures of cars driving to fast for residential
streets. Neighbors have followed the example and started posting
pictures on the Community Bulletin Board and the result is that cars
have slowed to more reasonable speeds.
We are all
responsible for the safety of our community; ‘silence’ supports
the offenders while those who ‘speak out’ help prevent crime
because consequences are assured.
We live in a “Nose
Neighborhood” to quote the police poster. If nothing else people
drive more slowly because they don’t want the embarrassment of the
community knowing they are speeding down the block. When we speak out
the police have the ability to investigate with support from the
citizens. It is a safer community when the police and the neighbors
work together.
Last night I was
awaken when at four in the morning police cruisers parked in front of
my home with lights flashing. When we looked out onto the street the
police had a man seated on the curb as they searched his vehicle.
Even in my community it is a rarity for a cruser to park in front of
my home with it’s lights blaring in the early morning hours, for
that matter, at any time of the day.
A little later, I
learned that the young man sitting on the curb stays just two houses
to my north. It turns out that when most people were in bed, he was
trolling the streets looking to cause someone trouble.
He decided to chase
a health care worker headed to work at 4AM for the early morning
shift at Froedhert Memorial. Not only did they give her chase but
they rammed this woman’s new car at what she estimates was 70 mph
as she tried to allude them. These two big young men damage her car
but more importantly they terrorized her. The story was told to me by
the victim soon after the event. This lady I’ve known for a number
of years. A wonderful woman supported by family and a good neighbor.
As she told the story, she broke into tears and began to cry as she
recalled the vivid moments when she thought she was going to die. The
terror she felt this morning she will feel for sometime to come.
The two young men
stay in a home rented from a friend and I called him to report the
event. I tell this story for all to hear because I believe we all
have an obligation to look out for one another. We cannot tolerate
behavior that causes our neighbors to feel victimized or terrorized.
Who knows? Someday it could be one of us at the hands of some bully
looking for a victim.
In every event were
people are victimized there were neighbors who stood by silently.
Genocide cannot occur without people knowing. Imagine being in Syria
today and not knowing that your neighbors are victimized by a brutal
regime. It starts with the few who are silent and builds until only a
few are speaking out.
If we are going to
post pictures of cars speeding down the street, surely then, we
should post pictures of cars involved in the commission of a crime.
Please note that
the front end of the car is bashed in the result of ramming our
neighbor. Fortunately, the person who was rammed did not loose
control of her car because the number of innocent victims could have
multiplied had she lost control. The police concluded that the owner
of the car was not involved in the crime itself and so the car was
“surrendered” to the “custody” of the owner. Don’t
misunderstand, the car was not stolen and apparently there is a
relationship between the owner of the car and the driver involved in
the crime.
Most people are
open to forgiving an action done in a moment of stress or crisis and
that maybe the case in this incident. That does not mean that there
should be no consequences for the offender. In fact, today I learned
that this is not the first offense and there have been other
experiences in our neighborhood when people living in the same home
of the same description have been observed putting other neighbors at
risk in a different way. Then the landlord was also called and the
police involved as well.
The landlord takes
these kinds of issues seriously, as well he should. I hope the senior
member of the household were these two men stay takes the behavior
with an equal amount of seriousness. In the event the senior member
of the household is being victimized and has no control over the
behavior of his family, let the offender know that we are “nose
neighbors” and are now watching even sniffing around for evidence
of inappropriate behavior.
We cannot tolerate
this illegal, immoral and un-neighborly behavior. Yes! Courage is
risky! But we must be courageous and willing to report this kind of
conduct to the proper authorities. I am not a vigilantly. I do not
advocate action by individuals. It is never appropriate to act on our
own. The only appropriate action is to call the police. If it is an
emergency call 911 and if there is no immediate danger, call the
non-emergency number at District Seven.
My hope is that the
offenders in this recent incident will join the peaceful members of
our community and enjoy the safety of our neighborhood. If not, then
let them be aware that we are a courageous group of neighbors looking
out for one another. Here is the picture:
The
vehicle is green and
one of the side
windows is broken and covered with plastic.
