CHARLOTTE POLICE DEVISE NEW PLAN TO REDUCE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN (TAKE HEED DC & MARYLAND)

CHARLOTTE POLICE DEVISE NEW PLAN TO REDUCE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN (TAKE HEED DC & MARYLAND):

IT'S TIME TO STOP COVERING UP FOR MEN WHO BEAT THEIR WIVES OR GIRLFRIENDS REGARDLESS OF HOW "NICE" THOSE MEN MAY APPEAR.

"NICE" MEN DO NOT BEAT UP THEIR WIVES OR GIRLFRIENDS.

"NICE" MEN DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY ON THEIR WIVES.

"NICE" MEN CAN NOT BE PROVOKED TO BEAT UP THEIR WIVES OR GIRLFRIENDS.

SO STOP LYING TO PROTECT THESE VIOLENT MEN WHO DESERVE PRISON TIME, INCLUDING MEN WHO ATTEND CHURCH.

MANY CHURCHES PROTECT WIFE BEATERS WITHIN THEIR CONGREGATION.

WOULD JESUS PROTECT A WIFE BEATER??


Sources: Charlotte Observer, ABC News, Australia Today, Psychology Today, Youtube


***** A quarter of Charlotte’s homicide cases involve domestic violence. This plan may help.


About a quarter of the city’s 84 homicide victims so far in 2017 have died through domestic violence, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.

The victims have included a UNC-Charlotte professor, at least one pregnant woman and, on Saturday, a recent immigrant and her mother-in-law. Police said her husband shot and killed both women, and then himself, in an east Charlotte apartment.

In the next few years, city leaders hope to save lives and reduce Charlotte’s domestic violence overall by opening a family justice center, based on a model that has worked well in other cities, CMPD Sgt. Craig Varnum said.

“Instead of the victim having to go across the street to talk to a Safe Alliance advocate, down the road to talk to someone at Community Support Services to get counseling for their child, coming here to talk to a police officer and across the street to get a 50B (protective order), they go to one place,” where representatives from all those agencies will be available, he said.



The center is only in planning stages, but Varnum said he expects it will open within three years. He said it’s too early to estimate how much the center will cost.

Communities around the state and country have seen big reductions in domestic violence after opening family justice centers, Varnum said. In San Diego, where the country’s first family justice center opened in 2002, he said domestic violence calls dropped 50 percent during a six-year period. Domestic violence homicides declined, too, he said.

Beyond the key goal of improving victims’ lives, reducing domestic violence will help the city overall, Varnum said. Nearly 40 percent of the 52 homicide suspects identified so far this year have criminal histories including domestic violence, he said.

“We spend more time investigating crimes of domestic violence than any other crime that we respond to,” he said. “We average about 35,000 calls per service per year that are related to domestic violence.” Varnum said about 9,000 of those calls turn into criminal reports every year.

The Buncombe County Family Justice Center opened in Asheville in 2016, and Varnum cited research about what victims in Buncombe County dealt with before the center opened.


In the first three days after a victim asked for help – a request often sparked by a violent, traumatic incident, Varnum said – Buncombe County found that, on average, victims went to eight different locations, spoke with 12 people about their cases and filled out 61 pages of paperwork.

The traveling and bureaucracy are a particular challenge for victims who have come to an unfamiliar place without transportation and who may be accompanied by children, Varnum said. In contrast, the family justice center is meant to be a safe place where victims can get all the help they need.

Laura Lawrence, chief legal officer for Safe Alliance, which helps survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in Mecklenburg County, will work with Varnum to lead the creation of the new center, she said Wednesday.

So far, the steering committee includes representatives from Pat’s Place Child Advocacy Center, the district attorney’s office, Child and Family Services Center and the county’s Community Support Services, along with Safe Alliance and the police, Lawrence said.

In the new center, Lawrence said victims will meet first with a Safe Alliance representative, who will help them file a protective order and decide what to do next.


Filing protective orders sometimes involves waiting in court for hours, Lawrence said, which can be intimidating and stressful for victims, especially when they have children. As early as March – long before the new center opens – Safe Alliance clients will be able to stay in a safe place and make video calls into the courtroom instead of going in person, Lawrence said.

Charlotte, NC's Murder Rate Rises While Newark, NJ Goes Murder-Free

Newark, NJ's murder rate is down.

Kudos to Mayor Corey Booker!

On the other hand Charlotte, NC’s Crime and Murder rates continue to rise.

Let’s see Newark is located in the heavily Diverse yet densely populated Northeastern United States, while Charlotte rests in the South with a population of less than 1 million people and is much less Diverse.

Could it be that Mayor Booker actually knows what he's doing?

Charlotte city officials are trying to pretend Crime is decreasing, however area residents can't be fooled.

We know that Crime within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region is actually getting worse!

Its Official folks!

Charlotte is now the new "Dirty South"!

Hey I’m just saying, please don't hate the messenger.

Instead of becoming offended (Charlotte's local "leaders") why not channel your energies into lowering the Crime rate?

Check out the videos, articles and survey results below than reach your own conclusions about Charlotte's Crime statistics.





Newark, NJ Records First Homicide-Free Month In More Than 40 Years


For the first time in more than 40 years, an entire calendar month has come and gone without a homicide in the state’s largest city.

It's been 32 days since a homicide took place in Newark, marking the first time there has been a slay-free calendar month in the city since 1966.

Police Director Garry McCarthy said he hopes to best a 43-day period from March to April of 2008, the longest span of time without a slaying in the city since 1961. Ten homicides have occurred in Newark since Jan. 1, and none have taken place in the South Ward, long believed to be Newark's most dangerous section.

The first-quarter homicide total is the same as last year's, and the second-lowest in Newark since 1941. There were only eight reported shootings in Newark in March, and aggravated assaults, robberies, carjackings and other major crime rates are all down for the first-quarter of 2010 compared to their 2009 totals.

The statistical quarter, which spans the first thirteen weeks of the year, officially ended on March 28th.





Forbes.com Ranks Charlotte, N.C. 14th Most Dangerous City


(Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, N.C.-S.C. metropolitan statistical area)

Population: 1,635,133

Violent Crimes per 100,000: 721

To determine our list, we used violent crime statistics from the FBI's latest uniform crime report, issued in 2008.

The violent crime category is composed of four offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

We evaluated U.S. Metropolitan statistical areas--geographic entities defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for use by Federal agencies in collecting, tabulating and publishing federal statistics--with more than 500,000 residents.






Survey Reveals Charlotte's Crime Problem Is Not Improving


Respondents to a survey organized by a Charlotte community organization disagree with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police statistics showing a dropping crime rate in the city.

About 80 percent of the approximately 500 people who participated in the survey said the crime problem in Charlotte is either unchanged or has gotten worse over the past two years.

The study was conducted in recent weeks by Neighbors For A Safer Charlotte, a grassroots organization founded in April 2008.

Their study results contrast with a steady stream of monthly crime statistics from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, showing -- for the most part -- that the crime rate has been dropping over the past 12 to 18 months. Earlier this week, CMPD statistics through March showed the overall crime rate is down 15 percent since the same time a year ago.

The survey results show that if CMPD statistics are correct, the perception among residents is that crime remains a big problem.

Respondents did not fall into the "lock-them-up-and-throw-away-the-key" category, as most of them said they support more mental health and substance abuse programs -- and said they believe only violent offenders should be put in jail.

Here are results from some of the organization's questions:

How much of a problem do you feel crime is in the Charlotte area?

75% rated it "serious" or "very serious"

In the past two years, has crime in Charlotte increased, stayed the same, or decreased?

42% said it is worse. Another 38% said it has remained the same.

Do you own a gun for protection?

31% said they owned a gun. Another 18 percent said they are considering buying one.

Which factors tend to increase the crime problem locally?

91% said gang and drug activity.

83% said the absence of a responsible parent or role model tends to increase crime activity among juveniles.

75% said lenient sentencing equals more crime.

50% said racial tensions were not likely to contribute to crime.

Not rated as significant factors were unemployment and poverty, and the lack of a police presence.

Have the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County done enough to deal with the crime problem?

79% said more needs to be done.

Are the courts too lenient or too tough?

78% said they are too lenient.

Do you plan to vote in the District Attorney race in November?

91% said they plan to vote in that contest.

What would help solve the crime problem?

96% said tougher sentencing.

88% said more programs for juveniles outside regular school hours.

85% said more mental health and substance abuse programs.

70% said only violent offenders should be incarcerated.





Charlotte's McClintock Middle School Mourns 13-Year-Old Murder Victim


The locker where Na’Jhae Parker would have put her textbooks was covered with pictures, signs, and letters to a murdered friend Wednesday.
“We love Na’Jhae Faith Parker!” one read. “RIP Na’Jhae,” another said.

“Even though this is her first year here, she’s just made a ton of friends and is extremely well-liked by students and certainly by her teachers,” McClintock Principal Pam Espinosa said. She and other staff spent the day counseling students, alongside extra counselors brought in by Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools.

“By the time word actually got out to the kids, we had counselors here,” Espinosa said.

Police say Na’Jhae’s father 33-year-old Kenneth Chapman stabbed her to death about two weeks ago. He also suffocated her 1-year-old sister and left their bodies in an upstairs bedroom of the family’s apartment on Providence Square Drive. He had killed their mother, Nateesa Chapman, in another apartment on Via Romano Drive a day earlier.

After two weeks of hiding his crimes, he shot himself when police came to investigate early Monday morning. Two surviving children are living with family.

Espinosa said Na’Jhae’s mother and stepfather were involved in the school. They attended parent teacher conferences and took a parenting class early in the school year.

Espinosa said when Na’Jhae did not show up at school, a counselor called her home. Her stepfather said she was ill and might be absent for some time. A nurse followed up a week later.

Dr. Peter Gorman says protocol was followed correctly.

“You feel like your first job is to keep your children safe and then when something happens, you examine ‘Is there anything I could have done,’ Espinosa said. “No matter what it is you still feel a level of responsibility.”
Counselors are also available at Lansdowne Elementary. The 10-year-old daughter who survived the ordeal attends Lansdowne.


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Sources: Charmeck.org, Forbes.com, Fox News, McClatchy Newspapers, Neighbors For a Safer Charlotte, NJ.com, Rachel Maddow Show, USA Today, WCNC, Facebook, Youtube, Google Maps

Are Temp Jobs Hiding Real U.S. Unemployment Numbers?

MSNBC----

TOWNSHEND, Vt. - For weeks, Greg Noel roamed the spine of the Green Mountains with a handheld GPS unit, walking dirt roads and chatting with people as he helped create a map of every housing unit in the United States.

Work was good: The sun was out, the snow was gone and the blackflies hadn't begun to hatch. But now that work is over and Noel, 60, and more than 60,000 other Americans hired in April to help with the 2010 census are out of work once more.

It's a familiar predicament in today's economy, in which some 2 million people searching for full-time work have had to settle for less, and unemployment is much higher than the official rate when all the Americans who gave up looking for jobs are counted, too.

Because of the surge of hiring for the census, April unemployment only rose to 8.9 percent — a much slower increase than had been feared. Figures out today show unemployment now stands at 9.4 percent.

But consider these numbers:

* The 9.4 percent May unemployment rate is based on 14.5 million Americans out of work. But that number doesn't include discouraged workers, people who gave up looking for work after four weeks. Add those 792,000 people, and the unemployment rate is 9.8 percent.
* The official rate also doesn't include "marginally attached workers," or people who have looked for work in the past year but stopped searching in the past month because of barriers to employment such as child care, poor health or lack of transportation. Add those 1.4 million people, and the unemployment rate would be 10.6 percent.
* The official rate also doesn't include "involuntary part-time workers," or the 2.2 million people like Noel who took a part-time job because that's all they could get, plus those whose work hours dropped below the full-time level. Once those 9.1 million workers are added to the unemployment mix, the rate would be 16.4 percent.

All told, nearly 25 million Americans were either unemployed, underemployed or had given up looking for a job in May.

The ranks of involuntary part-timers has increased by 4.9 million in the past year, according to a May study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Many economists now predict unemployment won't peak until 2010. And since employers generally increase the hours of existing workers before hiring new ones, workers could be looking for full-time jobs for some time.

Even so, one economist said the increase in involuntary part-timers might have a silver lining. Gary Burtless, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institute, said employers are likely cutting back everyone's hours instead of laying off people.

"In many countries, it's regarded as a good thing," he said.

For tens of thousands of people like Noel, a part-time job isn't their dream, but it beats the alternative. A Pennsylvania native and veteran of the Silicon Valley boom-and-bust cycle, Noel settled in southern Vermont in 2003. He'd worked a series of jobs, commuting to his latest position as an auditor for a family owned food and beverage distributor in Brattleboro before being laid off in early spring.

Vermont is in better shape than most states — but not by much. Real estate and tourism, pillars of the state's economy over the past decade, are staggering.

Many parents who were frantic last year about sons and daughters serving in Iraq and Afghanistan — the state has sent a disproportionate share of its young people overseas — now are relieved their children have a steady job with benefits. Financial jobs are few. "The economy?" Noel asks between bites of a bison burger in a tiny diner. "You just don't know if it's ever going to come back. We may never have it so good again."

When the Census Bureau offered him a part-time job mapping houses nearly an hour from his Windham home, Noel jumped at it. The money, $10 to $25 an hour plus 55 cents per mile, was a big factor. But Noel said he also wanted to be part of a larger community effort, and the 2010 census is nothing if not a large community effort.

When the first numbers are released in December 2010, the Census Bureau will have spent more than $11 billion and hired about 1.2 million temporary employees. The government conducts its census every decade to determine the number of congressional seats assigned to each state, but the figures collected also help the government decide where to spend billions of dollars for the poor and disabled, where to build new schools and prisons and how state legislative boundaries should be designed.

It hasn't been the perfect job — that would be a full-time position with benefits — but Noel says the census job worked out well. It eased the pain of being unemployed, giving him something to do and made him realize his entire life doesn't have to be about financial management.

"It's just statistics," said Noel, "but it's important."

But last week, he was unemployed again, a victim of the Census Bureau's efficiency. Since the government was able to draw from a well-qualified but mostly out-of-work pool of applicants, the work done by more than 140,000 field employees went far more quickly than expected.

"We've always done well, but this time around was amazing," said Stephen L. Buckner, a Census Bureau spokesman. "It's a tough economic time."

For some temporary workers, the outlook is brighter. Ian Gunn spent five weeks "being paid to hike. It was great." Gunn, an 18-year-old high school senior heading to Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute next year to study computer science, hopes for a better economy when he graduates, one that offers more security than a series of part-time jobs.

"It's going to take time," he said, "but I've got four more years."

Noel, though, is uncertain about the future. It's possible he'll be called back to work later in the fall for the final push. The Census Bureau expects to send roughly 1.2 million workers out to count people who don't return their questionnaires; the hiring will push down unemployment numbers for several months during that period.

For now, Noel says, he and his wife are living without frills. He looks for another job and she runs Green Mountain Chef, a catering business near Stratton Mountain. Demand has slowed dramatically since the economic meltdown began, as it has for most tourism-dependent businesses in Vermont.

Noel hopes to avoid being a statistic for too long. Unemployment insurance will give him about $425 a week — enough to pay the mortgage and maybe the health insurance bill. Right now, the couple pays about $280 a month, but that will climb to $850 in September, when his government-subsidized COBRA policy expires.

"I hope something comes up," he says. "But there's not an awful lot out there."


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Sources: MSNBC, Google Maps