21st Century Here We Come

Better late than never, the Post-Gazette appears to be embracing modern technology.

As a geek, it's reason enough to smile - every slaying in Allegheny County harnessed and displayed by Google maps. You can even zoom in for the satellite-view of areas you wouldn't dream of driving by. Next, can Google incorporate these dangerous areas (as input from city police department data through a slick API) into their driving directions to reduce the risk of stumbling upon an untoward neighborhood?

As a concerned citizen, it paints another picture of course, forcing us to realize that most of us live in an entirely different world than those folks in Homewood and the Hill District. There was a shooting up the street from me last year, but my experience can't compare with the regular violence and drugs that determines those lives. And for the folks in Shady Side or Mt Lebanon or out in the depths of Allegheny County with their white picket fences? Watching "The Wire" on DVD is as close as they'll get. It's easy to ignore those city problems and focus on why the fire department is taking so long to rescue your cat from its perch in a tree.

All this data in the hands of citizens can only be a good thing. But we need to do something with it. Is that more funding for police in dangerous neighborhoods? Is it more community outreach? More money for inner-city schools? In the least, we can say it's more. Thanks to the Post-Gazette for having the foresight to post this map on their front page and hopefully wake some of us up.

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)