Gone with the Wind

In the city of Syracuse, in 2004, sixty people were raped, sixteen were murdered

and four hundred forty six were robbed(Syracuse Crime Statistics). This is obviously something

our community needs to address, the presence of so many violent crimes throughout the city.

Gang violence is also an ever present threat to the safety of the citizens of Syracuse. Some

reasons for all this crime could be drugs, it could be lack of jobs and the fact that Syracuse

is in an economic rut, but whatever the reason, a solution needs to be formed. Blame could also

be pointed towards the city police department, because it is their responsibility to keep the city

safe. Our community needs to address this violence and crime that tears away at the moral

fabric of our city of Syracuse, and find a solution to end it.

The gang presence in Syracuse contributes the most to the rate of violence and crime.

Throughout areas of Syracuse there are many gangs, some nation wide and some that were

created in Syracuse and are based locally. The two most notorious gangs of the Syracuse

community, Elk Block and Boot Camp have been contributing to this violence and crime

also. The federal gang task forced determined that these two gangs were involved in drug

trafficking and illegal firearm sale (Schumer Unveils). These gangs are not only involved

in causing these crimes, they bring down the quality of life for everyone in Syracuse. The

children that live in these neighborhoods feel this the hardest with these gang members

sometimes using them for drug sales. People who were not in the Elk Block gang

who happened to be in these gang’s territories would be “summarily dismissed from the area

and likely physically assaulted, stabbed or shot . . . even if they were not dealing drugs.”

(Weibezahl). Although some Elk Block members have been indicted on charges for selling

drugs, murder, attempted murder, and other miscellaneous crimes, this is not a big enough

deterrent for this horrible problem that consumes the future of Syracuse like a black hole.

Four hundred forty six robberies (Syracuse Crime Statistics) would not occur if this

city was not on the verge of poverty. The unemployment rate of Central New York has not been

the same as the nation’s average of 4.8% but that does not necessarily mean that this rate is not

something to worry about. Think about it, how many times have you seen a middle aged parent

working for minimum wage at a McDonalds, or a similar establishment in Syracuse? Just

because a person has a job, does not mean he or she has enough capital to support a family, and

sometimes in order to get this money, they turn to crime. In Oswego county, which houses

Madison county and our county of Onondaga, we have the third highest rate of unemployment in

the state, a 5.7% (Moriarty), so in effect, this higher presence of unemployed people who need to

support their families brings a higher chance of these same people having to rob and sell drugs

to get by. Our city needs to provide some way of increasing the job growth, because without

good jobs, too many people will turn to this path of “easy-money” and bring down the quality

of life in Syracuse.

This easy money contributes