Cool Summer = Less Murders

There has long been a supposed correlation between hot summer weather and violence. In the summer, kids are out of school and restless. The hot weather exacerbates that. This summer the weather was cooler, and the murder rate has dropped significantly. The city is on track for a 40% decrease in the murder rate this year over last. 3/4 of the way through the year, we have 34 homicides as opposed to a total of 72 last year. Boston has also seen the effects of bad weather with a drop in shootings.

This is great news for an incumbent in an election year even as the Post-Gazette is publishing that Ravenstahl's administration let the ball drop on a sweeping crime-reduction plan. I wrote about the PIRC plan last year when it was announced. I had high hopes that the violence in my nearby neighborhoods would be reduced.

"Press conference, photo-op, no follow-through," said Mr. [Franco Dok] Harris. "We talk a lot, and we don't seem to do much."

Let's make PIRC (Pittsburgh Initiative to Reduce Crime) more than a photo-op for the mayor.
This good news will be a short reprieve if Climate Change experts are right. In the long-term, Pittsburgh is expected to have colder winters and hotter summers, which means we better deal with the potential for violence now.

Too Close For Comfort

Last night at the sketchy bar up the street in Allentown, one man was shot and killed. One man was shot and wounded. Another man dislocated his shoulder from jumping over the bar in the middle of this madness. Thanks to these villains, both UPMC South Side and UPMC Mercy got some extra business last night.

Here's my official plea to UPMC, don't close the UPMC South Side hospital UNTIL the homicide rates drop in this city. We need you more than ever with the homicide rate on schedule to be the highest in a decade. There have been 55 so far this year.

From the homicide rate article, "Of the victims, 50 were black and 47 died in gun violence. The average age was just over 28."

I'm in the right age group, but fortunately, I have minimal exposure to guns in this city. I also prefer the bars on Carson St and I'm white as snow, so I think I'm still pretty safe.

As I've mentioned before, there is a police station scheduled to open in January, on the same block as last night's shootings. I have a suspicion the violence will be less prevalent in that location after the cops move in.

Of course, one sketchy bar shutting down won't solve our problems. Hopefully, the Pittsburgh Initiative to Reduce Crime (PIRC) will make a big dent though. If it does, it'll be the best $200,000 this city ever spent.

(reference: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08294/921365-100.stm)