Today I found a report ranking Tennessee as the number one dangerous state in the country. I guess we have to be number one at something but this is disgusting.
This is not just a city problem but a state problem. Last week Chattanooga was ranked as one of the best cities to retire to because of the low cost of living. Who will want to come and live here now as the chances of being murdered, robbed, raped or mugged is higher than elsewhere in the country.
Okay, governor and mayor, what are we going to do about this situation?
Michael Ellins
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Don't worry, they are on top of it.
I just recently read where Chattanooga/Tennessee is still increasing its parks and trails. They even got a plan B. They are cutting into the pensions of the police and fire personnel.
Makes perfect sense to me. (pardon the pun).
Michael Burns
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Well, Berkes first reaction upon being elected was to shut down the Gang Task Force as well as the prevention group The Future Is Ours. So what did he expect, that our crime rate would drop on it's own accord?
His goal was either his ego: defeating the programs that were working for his predecessor; or getting the word "gang" out of the Chattanooga tourism arena.
Well, the tourists hearing about our high crime rate will keep the tourism money out of our coffers.
My main question now is this: How many lives will his ego cost us?
Netta Hall
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The report that ranked Tennessee as the highest in crime was for last year, using FBI numbers from 2012. So that is the violent crime rate under Mayor Littlefield and the Gang Task Force, hardly programs that were working for "his predecessor."
I watch the news regularly and Berke has done more to deal with crime in just a few months than his predecessor did in years. Berke has shut down event halls where gangs shoot at each other. He added more cops and hired a prosecutor to put gangs members away for longer.
If you recall, Littlefield wouldn't even use the word "gang" when the first shooting happened in Coolidge Park. Littlefield held a press conference to call it a flash mob.
So if we are going to talk about the crime rate in Chattanooga, we should understand how we got to where we are today and be thankful we have a mayor and a new City Council who are actually doing something about it.
Samantha White
Hixson