In the 1990’s when New York City was a criminal’s dream, Rudy Giuliani brought the “Broken Window Doctrine” to national attention with his policing efforts to stop squeegee men who harassed drivers with unsolicited windshield washing.
In criminology, the broken windows theory states that visible signs of crime, anti-social behavior and civil disorder create an urban environment that encourages further crime and disorder, including serious crimes.
Mayor Tim Kelly has allowed the practice of trespassing, loitering, littering, vagrancy and panhandling to run rampant everywhere - except in the elite parts of the city, or on his private property.
Despite having passed laws against these things as early as 2018, the Chattanooga Police Department has issued almost zero citations regarding these ordinances.
Panhandling is done almost exclusively for drug money by out-of-town opportunists who eventually settle in Chattanooga because of Kelly’s lax policies toward crime.
Drugs are trafficked heavily by gangs in our area, who then supply them to the massive encampments Mayor Kelly is building.
Gangs fight over drug territory and have disputes using gun violence, often in public places.
Lack of enforcement in one area causes unnecessary violence in another.
The Kelly administration is not concerned about the public safety or quality of life consequences caused by his policies.
Press conferences and virtue signaling will not fix the real problem which is this: Lax enforcement and prosecution of current laws.
Chattanooga is unsafe because we allow it to be unsafe.
Other municipalities in the country do not have this issue to the degree we are experiencing it.
Giuliani’s efforts worked to clean up New York City. Kelly has not learned this lesson from history and Chattanoogans are paying - and will continue to pay - the very high price.
Brandon Lewis
The Unpoliced Areas of Brainerd
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All those matters and more Brandon Lewis mention were going on long before Mayor Kelly took office and has nothing to do with the present administration. But there just might be calculating wickedness going on behind the "curtains" to make it seem otherwise.
Where there are "no suspects", anyone can carry out a drive-by and blame it on "gangs" in an effort to get their point across. Buried deep in the files of national intelligence, one might find some pretty sordid stuff taking place "across the land" and whose hands were controlling it.
Brenda Washington