Years of Rising Violence and the Residents of Baton Rouge

Violence has snatched the American Dream away from people living in the cities. 2 killings in 8 hours leave Brookstown reeling as Baton Rouge violence soars: 'I'm sick of crime tape'

The article is the story of a couple of residents in a Baton Rouge neighborhood that has been plagued with crime and saw 2 deadly shootings in a few hours. You can click thru for those details; a picture of a neighborhood abandoned by the authorities to crime. The residents described it as a nice place, decades ago when they made it their home.

The fatal shootings added to an already unprecedented spike in Baton Rouge gun violence fueling a record-breaking parishwide homicide rate. The Christmas holiday brought no respite from the violence, which began surging during the early months of the pandemic last year. One person was gunned down Christmas morning at a Sherwood Meadows apartment complex, and another man was killed the following day on McClelland Drive.

Brookstown residents said their neighborhood is no stranger to gun violence, but the recent deaths had them reeling. The two homicide scenes were less than a quarter mile apart, so close they almost overlapped.

This is what a resident of that neighborhood had to say about the rising tide of violence in Baton Rouge.

Her neighbor, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, said she has spent decades working multiple jobs, paying taxes and raising a child in Brookstown. She said she constantly fears for her life because gunfire is so frequent near her house.

"We don't deserve this," she said. "We are homeowners. We go to work every day. At my age, I'm supposed to be enjoying my retirement."

Above all, she wants more police in the neighborhood, beat cops who become familiar faces and invest in the community. She believes more police presence could have a real impact on preventing violence before tragedy strikes. [SNIP]

Her adult son is moving away for graduate school next year. The woman said she hopes he never moves back to Louisiana, where she believes the American Dream is largely inaccessible for Black people.

So who exactly has years of dismantling the Criminal Justice System in various cities around the country helped, and who has it hurt? Who has benefited, aside from the criminals, from the whole Defund the Police movement? Who have been impacted by falling real estate values? And who has benefited from the chaos?