Money not solution to crime

Over the Easter weekend, Chicago proved once again why it has become the poster child of urban violence. In just one 18-hour period, 29 people were shot in the Windy City.

Despite this senseless carnage, law enforcement officials in Chicago are touting the fact that shootings are actually less this year than last year.

In an odd twist of warped thinking, somehow this lower-than-expected weekend crime spree is some sort of celebration. Talk about low expectations!

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the root cause of this crime wave -- dysfunctional families, drugs and gang violence all too often combine in the urban setting to create an environment of lawlessness that must be condemned and addressed.

The shootings topped 40 before church services had ended Sunday noon. And yet, this is not an atypical weekend in Chicago.

It's far too easy to point out that each of these lawless urban cesspools have long been under Democratic party control.

The problem isn't one political party. The problem is the big government, state-dependent philosophy that dooms generations of young people who see no future and lack a family structure that includes a strong male role model.

The long-waged and highly flawed War on Drugs has siphoned billions of dollars into a failed attempt to rid society of the scourge of drugs. And yet within the profitable world of drug sales, crime has become the stepchild.

There is simply no single answer nor quick fix to the issue of urban crime. And to be fair, crime indeed is not isolated to the urban settings. But it's the sheer numbers that catch our attention in big city crime.

At the same time the news outlets were reporting the Chicago violence comes a report on the 1,715 convicted felons former President Obama pardoned during the closing hours of his administration.

With a recidivism rate approaching 75 percent, some have begun questioning what potential harm this massive inmate release may eventually create.

The obvious solution -- though not the sole answer -- is an increased law enforcement presence in crime-infested neighborhoods to send a clear signal of society's resolve.

But let's be honest -- it will take more than cops on the beat to stem this epidemic.

The liberal solution of course is more gun control. That argument clearly loses steam in Chicago which has ample gun-control measures that apparently pertain only to law abiding citizens.

I would not be shocked if someday we are forced to put National Guard or military personnel in high crime areas in urban settings. Yet even that will fall short of solving the problem.

Let's be equally clear, money is not the solution. The liberal mantra has always been and will always be to spend more money despite dismal results. Spending someone else's money may sooth the conscience of some but it's a fool's game at best.

The last thing society needs to do is to ignore the issue because it isn't happening in our own back yard. But rest assured, left unchecked, the issue of urban crime will morph into the issue of rural crime.

Before that occurs, we need to enlist not just government groups but whole groups within those neighborhood who do more than march and hold signs against violence.

We need neighbors to drop their fear and recognize that law enforcement is there to help and not harm.

Michael Jensen is the publisher of the Standard Democrat in Sikeston, Missouri.