Hartford hit and run shocks state, nation

Police Chief Roberts says it well, "Our moral values have changed."

Please pray for this accident victim.

Colorado shooter allegedly heard voices, talked with them

Colorado shooter Matthew Murray was "troubled," in today's parlance. The reality of the situation is that he was not only emotionally disturbed but under spiritual influences he could not control and, indeed, seemed to welcome. From CNN:

I-Report contributor Richard Werner, 34, said Monday he was a worker at the center in Arvada, Colorado, in 2002, the same time as Murray.

Werner said five days before Murray was told in 2002 he could not make the Bosnia trip, Murray performed a pair of dark rock songs at a concert at the mission that made fellow workers "pretty scared."

The performance -- which included a song by rock band Linkin Park and another that had been recorded by controversial rocker Marilyn Manson -- followed months of strange behavior, Werner said.

Werner, of Balneario Camborius, Brazil, said he had a bunk near Murray's and that Murray would roll around in bed and make noises.

"He would say, 'Don't worry, I'm just talking to the voices,' " Werner said. "He'd say, 'Don't worry, Richard. You're a nice guy. The voices like you.' "

Werner said he instantly suspected Murray when he heard the news of Sunday's shootings.

"I turned to my wife and I said, 'I know who did it. It's Matthew,' " he said. "It was so obvious.

"For four months, he was sleeping right next to me. Those are the things you don't imagine, but when it happened it was so obvious."

I'm sure these things will be little reported, and understood even less. In North America even Christians have a difficult time coming to grips with the reality of demonic forces.

Connecticut's crime rate low

Statistics from the FBI show Connecticut ranks among the dozen safest states in the U.S., with a below-average number of all types of crime except robberies, according to a new report compiled by state officials.

It is unclear how the report will influence the current debate on criminal justice reforms triggered by July's triple-murder in Cheshire. Gov. M. Jodi Rell's task force on parole, which requested the report, is scheduled to recommend changes by the end of the year.

The legislature's Judiciary Committee will hold a special session to debate several proposals, including a so-called three strikes law, before the regular session starts in February.

Thank God for this, although many sore spots remain. More here.

The best social program we ever had was the DAD

In the office of the DAD they had phones like this one

The DAD.

That's not an acronym. It's Dad. Your Pop. The Old Man. He was the best social program we ever had, back in the day when we had them - and only one, mind you, not two.

In an article entitled Urban Pathology And Distance, Don Pesci nails it:

If the root cause of urban pathologies is to be found, as some analysts have suggested, in partial family structures – single parent households abandoned by fathers, or those in which fathers never were present – then a solution to the pathologies must include a restoration of more adequate social structures.

What is the possibility that architects of social policy, including politicians and legislators, will in the future dedicate themselves to writing laws and policies that encourage the formation of traditional family structures, remembering that such legislation must include sanctions that discourage less successful forms?

To ask the question is to answer it. There are many powerful political interests arrayed against such a restoration, and politicians are not celebrated for an excess of courage in opposing powerful and politically well connected interests. Children in the cities are the victims of such timidity, not to say cowardice; and however much money is thrown their way, they will continue to be victimized by a system of sanctions and rewards that is blissfully unconcerned with families and convinced – despite clear evidence to the contrary – that it is possible for a village to raise a child in the absence of honorable, loving and working fathers.

Bingo. Read the whole thing here.

Photo by Bill Gantz. Some rights reserved.

Horror of the Cheshire murders spotlights nationwide crime fears

Video courtesy of the Washington Post.

The horrors of the Cheshire murder continue to echo, with no less than the Washington Post riffing on what it all means:

The killings have stunned this state known for its staid insurance companies and old whalers in Mystic Seaport, sparking the broadest review of Connecticut's criminal justice system in modern history. But while rare in their scope and viciousness, the slayings, experts say, highlight a crime wave underway in small bedroom communities across America, where statistics are showing the biggest increase in violent criminal activity in years.

Not only was violent crime in suburban communities with populations between 25,000 and 49,999 up for the third year in a row in 2006, but it grew by 3.2 percent -- significantly faster than the nationwide increase of 1.3 percent, according to recently released FBI statistics. By comparison, during that same period, cities with more than 1 million people saw violent crime edge up by only 0.2 percent while rural areas saw a decrease of 5.3 percent. Only cities between 250,000 and 499,999 witnessed similar increases, with violent crime in those areas also surging by 3.2 percent.

It happens as fast-growing suburban regions find themselves coping with more drug-related and, in some cases, gang-related crimes that were once largely considered urban problems. Cheshire, a relatively affluent municipality of 29,000 between New Haven and Hartford, offers a micro-portrait of a town grappling with at least some of those ills.

Last month, Cheshire police recorded one of their largest drug seizures in years -- 22 bags of heroin found during a drunken-driving stop. Although smaller towns are more likely to witness broader fluctuations in crime than larger cities, this year Cheshire has had 28 burglaries, a 75 percent increase over the same period last year. Additionally, in February, the town witnessed a double murder (the perpetrator committed suicide) that brought its homicide toll for the year, including the Petit killings, to a record five, according to Cheshire police.

Read the rest here.

More on armed citizen patrols in New Haven

The Christian Science Monitor has more here on the ongoing controversy regarding citizen patrols in New Haven.

"We used to get a lot of grants to help [with community policing] – a couple million dollars a year. But we lost those grants over the last six years," says Chief Ortiz. He explains the war on terror came at a price to community policing efforts that allowed officers enough time to work small beats and get to know the residents and their concerns. "The country shifted its focus. Like Cyclops with one eye, it took its eye off" community policing, he says.

The Contradictions of Connecticut - The Pocket State

For cities its size, Stamford is a very safe place. How safe? Safe enough to be the 9th safest city in the country. And, what's more:

Stamford was the second safest among 26 cities in the Northeast with populations of at least 100,000, trailing only the town of Amherst, N.Y. Bridgeport ranked 25th and Hartford ranked 26th among Northeast cities in that category.

But all is not rosy even in Stamford:

Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy said he was pleased with the ranking but said the police department faces a new challenge in keeping Stamford among the elite during a budget crisis.

"How do you continue to do that in light of the resources?" Malloy said. "We're all scratching our heads over that question."

The department has cut overtime spending, taken officers out of the detective bureau and reduced the number of on-duty patrol officers to cope with budget cuts slated for 2007-08.

The city's violent crime rate has climbed five years in a row, including double-digit percentage increases in 2005 and 2006, city records show.

Police responded to 393 violent crimes last year, up from 353 in 2005 and 305 in 2004 - a 29 percent increase over two years.

The increase outpaced the nationwide jump in violent crime over the last two years. Violent crime in the United States increased by 2.3 percent in 2005 and 1.3 percent last year after declining consistently for nearly a decade.

Experts have blamed the trend on declining federal aid to police departments and rising youth violence.

Well, there are problems - and then there are problems. Would Mayor Malloy swap his problems for Hartford's? Or Bridgeport's?

Stamford was the second safest among 26 cities in the Northeast with populations of at least 100,000, trailing only the town of Amherst, N.Y. Bridgeport ranked 25th and Hartford ranked 26th among Northeast cities in that category.

In case you're wondering, New Haven typically doesn't report numbers to the FBI. They are perhaps too busy at the moment subverting Federal law by legitimizing illegal immigration. Whatever your views on that, what does this teach the next generation about lawlessness? I frankly find it disturbing. And, to even ask the question about how many crimes are being committed by illegal immigrants is to invite accusations of racism and xenophobia.

More to the point, what does it say about us as a people that Connecticut is the Pocket State - a pocket of money here, a pocket of poverty there, a pocket of safety here, and pocket of real danger there? How long can this be a viable model?

I could have linked to stories about the crime in Hartford (four killings in one weekend) but I don't know which one to pick.

In New Haven, armed patrols... and more murders

When people perceive, rightly or wrongly, that their government cannot or will not defend them from criminals, the people will take such measures as they think expedient to defend themselves. So we were not surprised to see that armed citizen patrols are arising in the Elm City. According to Channel 30:

The group calls themselves the Edgewood Park Defense Patrol and they claim police aren't doing enough to keep them safe.The armed group said they patrol the streets from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. They said the mission was prompted by a vicious attack on a rabbi Sunday night. The group said they all legally bear arms and just want their neighbors to feel safe.

New Haven Mayor John DeStefano issued a statement saying,” I believe that individuals that carry weapons with the intent of enforcing their view of appropriate behavior in the neighborhood is a recipe for disaster.”

Now Channel 8 reports this morning that the Guardian Angels are coming in:

The founder of the Guardian Angels is coming to New Haven Thursday to help patrol the city's Edgewood Park area.

Speaking by phone on Good Morning Connecticut, Sliwa said he's been counseling Rabbi Dov Greer, who started an armed patrol around the park following a weekend mugging.

Sliwa says he will bring in an unarmed, inter-racial patrol.

This news is overshadowed (or should be at any rate) by the murders of two more men yesterday. Read the New Haven Register here for information and background on the tensions in the community.

Please take time today to pray for New Haven, its leaders, and its churches.

More on prayer for Connecticut's youth...

Watertown police have arrested seven men in the Waterbury for allegedly assaulting a 15-year-old boy. Among those arrested were a former police lieutenant, a prominent businessman, and a judicial marshal.

In Stratford there is an uproar over an alleged sexual assault by one boy on another in a public school. Sadly, there's almost no shock value to these stories any more - except that in this case both boys were only 6 years old! Christine from The Thinking Mother blog has more on this.

Kids need to be protected - and the only way to do that is to root out of society the things that are influencing people, particularly men, to act out these behaviors.

Is anyone going to step up to the plate and begin to explain in loud detail the facts about what repeated exposure to pornography does to people's minds and brain chemistry? It is imperative that we begin to address obscenity at the roots at the problem.

Schools delayed in wake of bomb threat

Across Litchfield County schools are delaying their opening this morning by 90 minutes in response to a bomb threat received by phone yesterday at a State police barracks. According to Channel 8:

The caller did not indicate what high school or what town. Hours after the call was made, the following school districts in Northwest Connecticut decided to put off the opening bell by 90-minutes:

• Torrington Public Schools including Oliver Wolcott Technical High School
• Litchfield Public Schools
• Plymouth School District
• Regional School District #6
• Regional School District #10
• Regional School District #12
• Regional School District #15
• The Arch Bridge School in Bethlehem
• Hartland School District
• Watertown Public Schools
• Thomaston School District
• Explorations Charter School in Winsted
• New Milford School District, no AM kindergarten

"We want to insure schools were safe and do a walk through at every school and be sure that any possible threat is eliminated before we bring students or staff in," said Litchfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dominick Vita.

As we've commented recently, we need to step up our level of prayer for our youth.

Prayer for Connecticut's Youth

Churches and individual Christians should urgently consider establishing regular prayer for the youth of our State. Every day seems to bring more and more disturbing cases of violence and abuse committed against our young people.

• A 15-year-old girl, missing for a year, is found locked away in an Edgar Allan Poe type secret room hidden under a staircase and blocked from view in a West Hartford house.
  

• Three East Hartford men were in Hartford Superior Court to face charges of various assaults. Two of the three were charged with offenses against children and two with offenses against mentally retarded persons.
  

• A Vernon man already facing charges for allegedly having sexual contact with five minors was charged with new internet sex charges.
  

• Another man pled not guilty to charges that he was soliciting sex from an undercover officer whom he thought was a teenage girl and whom he planned to meet in Stamford.
  

• A 66-year-old man is arrested in Watertown for allegedly assaulting a child.

I am incredulous over the fact that all these stories were reported in a single day, in a small State. When are we going to wake up and admit that pornography is creating a generation of dangerous predators who are totally inflamed with lust - and who are not content to merely view, but to act out what they see and think about?

When will we enforce the obscenity laws of the State and of the United States?

Enough is enough.