Wednesday, April 9, 2014

And So It Begins...

Wilkes-Barre had its first homicide of 2014 Monday night-- a stabbing on South Hancock Street.  Charles Edmonds dead.  Al-Tariq Peterkin charged.

Wilkes-Barre had a dozen homicides last year and in half the cases, the killers still walk the streets.

You could see it on the faces of law enforcement.  Even though an arrest was quickly made, many had that "Here we go again" look.  Another violent year ahead.  More media scrutiny.  More angry citizens.  More faith in government and the powers that be lost.  I also detected some of that "if we don't talk about it, it doesn't exist" attitude.

There are two ways to do this-- confront the issue, head on...  or do more of the same, a tactic that's failed in the past.