Broadcasting Crime: Should YouTube Be Held Responsible for Replaying Lawlessness?

We live in the world of 24/7, in your face, here-and-now media. And whilst I am the first to admit that I take full advantage of all news media being offered to me, ashamedly even Perez Hilton, I also think that there has to be a breaking point. There needs to be a line drawn clearly in the sand that says, “stop here and do not cross.” But is there?

Take for instance YouTube. Again, I am a fan, but the most recent controversy surrounding the network is rather bothersome. If the fact that eight Florida teenagers beating their peer and rendering her unconscious wasn’t enough to catch my attention in the news, how about the fact that I could watch the whole entire “animalistic” fight on YouTube?

Was it for five minutes of fame? Was it to empower themselves? I can not even begin to fathom what thought process would go behind something like that attack but I do know that they received the attention they were so desperately seeking. Continue reading Broadcasting Crime: Should YouTube Be Held Responsible for Replaying Lawlessness?

Taking on Gangland: Using money and politics to get tough on Edgewood

Tired of watching the unstemmed blood flowing from Edgewood? So too are a contingent of elected officials who let loose this week with a flood of proposed legislation, millions of dollars in federal funding and renewed resolve to wash Edgewood and Harford County clean of its gang infestation.

But can this latest attempt to flush out Edgewood’s growing number of Bloods and Crips, of which the state now says there are more than 300 members in Harford County, succeed where so many others have failed (see: Harford County Sheriff’s Office Southern Precinct, Guardian Angels patrol, Community Watch program, State Police Activity League Center, etc)?

A series of eight separate bills introduced within the last week by state Sen. Nancy Jacobs aim to hit gangs where it hurts - seizing their property, charging their young members as adults rather than juveniles and stretching out the sentences of gang members convicted of crimes - while a new Gang Elimination Task Force, created with nearly $3 million in federal funding, was also announced this week. Continue reading Taking on Gangland: Using money and politics to get tough on Edgewood

Off to the Races (updated again)

The City of Aberdeen will hold its municipal election for mayor and four city council members on Tuesday, November 6 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Senior Citizens Center at 7 Franklin Street.

The Harford County Municipal Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 128 will be sponsoring “Meet the Candidates Night” on Wednesday, October 10 at The American Legion Post 128, 44 N Parke Street. The doors open at 6:15 p.m. and the event begins at 7 p.m. Organizers are advertising it as a chance for citizens to meet and ask questions of those running for office.

For those who can’t wait that long or won’t be attending, here is The Dagger’s take. Continue reading Off to the Races (updated again)

Former Aberdeen police corporal-turned-council candidate challenges mayor’s “law enforcement strategy”

By Rick Denu (candidate for Aberdeen City Council)
http://www.rickdenu.net/

The “Aberdeen Model” isn’t a Model at all!

The Aberdeen Mayor claims to have a “model law enforcement strategy”, which was only placed on paper weeks ago, that eliminates crime and now he wants to impose that ridiculous notion outside City limits; has crime been eliminated from Aberdeen?

Let me start by saying that Aberdeen’s Mayor is not a law enforcement professional, he is an insurance salesman whom became Mayor. He has absolutely no basis of knowledge to create, nor implement any crime model; that is the job of the Chief of Police. Continue reading Former Aberdeen police corporal-turned-council candidate challenges mayor’s “law enforcement strategy”

Who Said That Local Politics Can’t Be Fun?

What took so long?

It’s been six months or so since Aberdeen Mayor S. Fred Simmons, who is also a local airport owner and insurance agent, erected a billboard on Route 40 at the city’s eastern border for his State Farm Insurance business. It wasn’t until this week, however, that the billboard, which features a nine-foot tall photo of Simmons’ head, was defaced.

The first time I saw the billboard, I was driving into Aberdeen with the rest of the westbound traffic on Pulaski Highway. I was immediately struck by several thoughts: Continue reading Who Said That Local Politics Can’t Be Fun?