Sunday, December 13, 2009
WT: No Murders in Trinidad
Well, we (from the neighborhood association, and my circle of friends) were all waiting until January to spring the news that Trinidad, which has been prefaced by all sorts of terms over the past year and a half, has returned to normal. That is...NO ONE has been murdered here this year. We did have one disputed police shooting, but that's it, and we hope to keep it that way for all of 2009 (and maybe, like, beyond). The Washington Times wrote a very decent piece about the fact. I kind of wish it wasn't called "Killings Subside in Trinidad," but whatever. I'm mostly glad that the author sought to put the violence into perspective. Apparently that doesn't really occur to a lot of journalists when writing about a sudden unusual jump in crime (find me two articles from that time in Trinidad that did it, and you win a prize). Like I said, the author actually got the facts right, and didn't misrepresent anything. That's one thing I'll say for the Times. They may be conservative as hell, but when they actually do local coverage like this, they tend to not mess it up. I once posted an error about a Times story and the author not only corrected it immediately, but he also emailed me about it. I was very impressed. Unfortunately, those kinds of journalistic ethics aren't as common as they should be today. So, Dear Reader, read on.
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15 comments:
just saw this article and came here to post it.
naturally, you were right on top of it already
LOL
yeah, pretty good article
when i have no criticism to make, that says something. ha!
I suppose that is true, if you have a definition of where Trinidad is technically...but there have been a number of murders (and other crime) that probably can be attributed to those residing or who come out of Trinidad...so if you put it in that perspective, all is not good at all...
Just last month, there was that killing in broad daylight at the bus-stop at 14th and H NE in which magically no-one on the bus saw anything and/or happened to be on the very busy X2 bus line...
Trinidad may be getting "better" but it is far away from being a free from its past...
The murders on H street were not technically in Triniddad. The perpertrators were not from trinidad and nor was the victim. Most importantly, the perpertrators were caught and the police specifically said they recieved information from those in the neighborhood. Give credit where credit is due. DCDave, sure there is more work to be done, but it is important that the work that has been done is acknowledged and continued!
DCDave,
they had witnesses to that shooting. And I think it was a news outlet that misreported the bus as empty. I'm sure there are probably also people from Columbia Heights and Petworth who commit crimes in other parts of the city. In fact, the guys you mention who shot George Rawlings as he boarded the bus on H Street weren't from any neighborhood nearby. They were only passing through.
Let's try this another way. I'm not picking on you, but your argument doesn't really seem to make sense. Here's what I mean:
Sova is the only coffee shop in the Atlas District. "I suppose that is true, if you have a definition of where [the Atlas District] is technically...but there have been a number of [coffee shops] (and other [places serving coffee]) that probably can be attributed to those residing [in] or who come out of [the Atlas District]...so if you put it in that perspective..."
See the problem?
And the you follow it by referencing a scary murder with NO LINKS to Trinidad.
I guess my next paragraphes would be something like:
I know there's a Teaism downtown, and I'm even told that the new Bus Boys and Poets serves coffee.
Sova may be the only coffee shop "in" the Atlas District, but it is far away from being the only coffee shop in the Atlas District.
it's hard to believe, but it's going to be terrible to lose the local coverage that the times does when that all goes under in february. their editorial page might be batshit insane, but they get into a lot of local coverage that the wapo just plain ignores (when they aren't getting things wrong).
I'm with imgoph. The Washington Times is batshit nuts (and pretty hateful toward gay people), but their local news coverage is often far better than the Washington Post ever offers.
what is it with this neighborhood when having no murders is big news?
what is it with anonymous people who have nothing but negative comments?
okay...I'll go spend time hanging out in the late hours at night/early hours in the morning around the Teaism you mentioned for a month straight...and you do the same in the middle of Trinidad...and we'll see who witnesses more crime...
DCDave,
I was just making the point that your comment didn't really flow logically. I never said Trinidad was crime free, or lower crime than the area around Teaism (which is probably way lower crime than most parts of DC).
obviously using teasim was meant to exaggerate your side of the discussion...was just pointing out probably wasn't best location to choose...but I understand your point and catching my errors...I just don't know/haven't seen what progress is specifically the reason why we've gone from military style checkpoint in Trinidad to supposed "no murders" in Trinidad in such a quick time...I am just cautious to think its a real turnaround or if this year was just a good amount of luck...
DCDave,
the point is that the checkpoints were not necessary in the first place. Trinidad has has its issues, but the check points were an out there move in the first place. We were having crime issues, but I kind of wonder if the checkpoints might not have been made crime worse. We already know that some of these guys came here from other neighborhoods just to shoot people here. Is it really a stretch to think they may have picked Trinidad for the dare factor? We've been told it was payback for a single person from Trinidad that caused some offense. Might the payback not be more attractive because the area had recently been tagged as high crime by MPD? MPD didn't cause it, but I don't think they helped.
Trying to pretend that an out there year is somehow normal is not only crazy, it's down right ignorant (and kind of borderline racist). If you think that's crazy talk try checking out the BBC's "Killing Time in Trinidad." "Where are the playgrounds?" A block away from you chick in the marijuana shirt that got interviewed.
Seriously, I'm sick of this shit. I'm not claiming we're normally murder free, but last summer wasn't the norm. To take it as such makes no sense. We have crime, but not like that. We just want to be recognized for what we are, a normal neighborhood. And one you've probably not spent much time visiting.
I only chose Teasism because it was an urban place that serves tea, like Sova, No other comparison was meant. I was just trying to show that your comment made no sense.
I don't spend much time in Trinidad because I don't want to be a statistic of the crime that I see get reported on every week...also, you have some problems to seeing racism in any of my comments, how can you perceive what my race is in anything I've said so far? Please tell me and anyone reviewing these comments what race you think I am...if anything, that "borderline racist" comment reveals more about you than anything about me...a very shallow perspective you displayed there and very narrow-minded...also might like to add, you are calling your readers "racist" and ignorant" just shows what your blog might attract? just pointing that out, you obviously didn't think that through...obviously since I live less relatively close to trinidad and frequent private businesses that exist within the community of trinidad I am apart of your community and despite the fact that I haven't said so explicitly, I do want Trinidad to be viewed in a better light like you do but also to improve in real terms as well...I am more a "friend" than "enemy" to you...and since I'm reading your entries and following your comments, it only shows that I care and want to know more about whats going on in my community...I want it to improve and I have always admired your blog and thing it provides essential communication in our community...thank you...
my only original point was that despite the reported violent crime rate for 2009, that I was being suspect on how this will look over the long term...(that it may not hold)...which is NOT unreasonable given the history and the crime I see reported every week...that's all I wanted to say...I probably could have done a better job...but it is what it is...
please don't throw around the racism and ignorant labels just because you don't know what else to say or too lazy too look deeper..or get to know the person more...
also...sorry for the spelling errors...I am sometimes lazy in my spell checking...
I didn't call you a racist. I was referring to certain coverage.
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