Good for Chairman Corey Stewart. He has continued to point out the need for additional law enforcement officers, despite the fact that he has been vilified and mocked on some other blogs that frankly, would brand him regardless of what he advocated in his role as county chairman. Now one of the local online news agencies wants to pile on, ignoring facts.
In recently arguing his case for more police officers (and perhaps higher taxes) in next year’s fiscal county budget, Prince William Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart also managed to perpetuate an unfortunate stereotype.
“It’s not just in Woodbridge or Dale City, it’s not just in places where people would think these things would occur,” Stewart said of what he perceives as a spike in crime. “They are happening in the western end of the county.”
Really, Mr. Stewart? We expect rape, robbery and murder on the east end but not the west end?
He might as well have called it “Hoodbridge,” that embarrassing nickname that started who knows where, but it seems to have stuck.
Stewart called a press conference earlier this month to make his case that crime is on the rise, and mentioned two recent high-profile incidents – the execution-style shooting death of 21-year-old Glenda Coca-Romero at Platanillos Grocery in Woodbridge and a gang fight at Potomac Mills mall.
We’re going to agree with Stewart on the slaying at Platanillos. It’s a crime brazen and cold-blooded, with no known motive. It should shock and frighten us.
The fight at Potomac Mills, which originally went out on social media as shots fired at the mall, was quickly found to be nothing more than a brawl among teens at the food court. No shots were fired, no weapons at all were seen on surveillance video, no one was seriously injured and three youths were quickly arrested.
Stereotype? Bullcrap! No, insidenova, YOU called it Hoodbridge, not Corey. Spare us the mock political correctness. Insidenova apparently doesn’t really look at trending or patterns in the police daily incident reports. I have been noticing for a couple of years. Heretofore, most of the crime committed in the county has happened at the other end–the eastern end. To deny that is to deny reality. Is that a stereotype? I don’t think so. No more than saying that most of the crime in Gainesville District happens in closer to the city, where the population is denser. Police reports will bear this conclusion out.
To his credit, Chairman Stewart has not finger-pointed at particular groups. He has pointed to crime. Crime is the bad guy. Rather than calling him out, Insidenova should be praising the chairman for recognizing a county problem and trying to to do something about it before it becomes a major problem. It’s far easier to tackle a small problem than it is to tackle a larger, out of control problem. No, he hasn’t called for hiring over 200 officers this year. This statement which is circling the blogosphere, is simply a lie.
The daily incident reports do not lie. They report what is happening in the county. Elena has been hearing my clarion call for a year now. I have continued to remark, weekly sometimes, about seeing a significant increase in crime over time. It has also started to appear in areas where we haven’t seen much of it, especially in the western end of the county. I can promise you, I wasn’t colluding with the chairman to scare up a crime scandal. He and I don’t travel in the same circles, since I am an unpartied, non-Republican.
Ask any law enforcement officer. He or she will tell you that one of the biggest crime deterrents is more police presence. Corey Stewart is absolutely on the right track to call for the hiring of more police officers. He knows that our current level of hiring sworn officers has not kept pace with the growing population. He wants to take corrective measures now, rather than later. He knows that 5 sworn officers is not sufficient for a growing urban county like Prince William.
Perhaps some of the nay-sayers, especially those out Gainesville way, want to start subscribing to the county daily incident reports. They might want to start looking at where the crime incidents are being reported. Populations and town centers unfortunately attract crime. Raw data doesn’t tell the whole story but its a good place to look to start understanding the problem.
Chairman Stewart is going about this problem the right way. He has told the public of his intentions. He is working with the supervisors to direct the CXO to work with the police chief on gathering data. From that data and the wisdom of the chief, who, after all, is the expert, decisions will be made. For God’s sake, what is wrong with making an informed decision rather than one based on emotion? Keep up the good work Corey, Moonhowlings is glad to see you taking this approach and targeting crime rather than groups. I hope this is a sign of mature leadership and that we will see more of it.
Glad to see the chairman acting in the best interests of the county rather than bellowing about “illegals.” Moonhowler, you are right. Crime comes in all colors. We need to go after crime-committers, regardless of who is doing it.
The chairman would be able to clean most contenders’ clocks in a general election. One supervisor has been campaigning for the job since day one. It’s very obvious. Very green.