Supporting Effective Law Enforcement

You may have gathered from my earlier article where I referenced the escalating violent crime in the greater Orlando area surrounding The Happiest Place on Earth, that this section of Orange county which was once heavily populated with orange groves is not quite as happy as it was twenty, or even ten years ago. First, let me present the murder statistics to substantiate my earlier assertions.

Orlando Murders

1996: 47
1997: 40
1998: 46
1999: 45
2000: 50
2001: 42
2002: 53
2003: 59
2004: 55
2005: 71
2006:113
2007: 98
2008: 102 (in under ten months and growing steadily)

Federal agencies noticed the jump in the homicide rate back in 2006 as illustrated in this article:

FBI: Murder rate soars in Orlando

www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-fbicrime1906dec19,0,2369860.story?coll=orl-home-headlines

It appears that bank robbery is also on the increase:

blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_local_orlandocrime/bank_robbery/index.html

As well as other types of robberies:

blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_local_orlandocrime/robbery/index.html

And increased home invasions:

blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_local_orlandocrime/home_invasion/index.html

Now let’s take a look at how O-Town rated in the race for the most dangerous cities in America for 2007. There were a total of 378 cities ranked, and the numbers next to the individual items such as murder and assault are to define where each separate category ranks statistically in relation to all of the other cities in the U.S.

No. 11:
Orlando, Fla.
Rankings in Crime
Assault: 6
Murder: 28
Rape: 31
Motor Vehicle Theft: 50
Robbery: 11
Burglary: 33

Now let's compare Orlando to the infamous Compton California, which ranked below it at number 14 overall:

No. 14:
Compton, Calif.
Rankings in Crime
Assault: 10
Murder: 7
Rape: 100
Motor Vehicle Theft: 76
Robbery: 29
Burglary: 267

It should be noted that In 2006, the Morgan Quitno Corporation rated Compton as the most dangerous city in the United States (with a population of 75,000 to 99,999), and fourth most dangerous overall in comparison. It should also be noted that Orlando ranked higher than Compton statistically in five out of the six categories.

Strangely enough, Miami ended up quite a ways down the list from Orlando at number 35, although Miami ranks number one in road rage (from another statistical survey).

You can view the complete list of cities here:

www.cqpress.com/docs/City%204%20-%20Most%20Dangerous_14E.pdf

A video from local news discussing it:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvOhoDPwTgk

It appears that many in law enforcement have noticed this trend, and some are taking steps to address it. The Orange County Sheriffs Office SWAT, which appears to be highly trained according to all the information that I have reviewed, has seen the proverbial writing on the wall, and is now gearing up in preparation to deal with the rapidly increasing number of violent offenders in our area. Last September, Orange County Sheriffs Office announced that their department was purchasing 14 new tactical rifles that fire a large caliber round with extreme accuracy. Of course as usual, there was some grumbling from certain factions about them acquiring this new weapons system. Sometimes I believe that people here are living in a sort of theme park induced fantasy far removed from reality, because Orlando isn't the sleepy little city that it used to be, and violent crime is escalating exponentially. The last thing that citizens should want to do is send our law enforcement out ill equipped to confront the heavily armed violent criminal element that has invaded Orlando. As many of my readers know, there is a hierarchy in weaponry, and the old expression Don't take a knife to a gunfight is a good illustration of this concept. Many of today's modern criminals who are now operating in this area have AK47's and a host of other fully automatic weapons in their arsenals, therefore we should make sure that our trained professionals in law enforcement have only the very best in armament as well as protective gear. Here is a glimpse of the new weapons system that is being put into service. The video clip will tell you all you need to know without further commentary from me:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CrUARlmqso

For those of you who remember the North Hollywood California Bank Robbery back in 1997, that incident clearly demonstrated how those in law enforcement were put in a compromised situation, because the hierarchy of weaponry was not in their favor. It should be noted that LAPD had requested better armament a short time before the incident, but the political powers to be had rejected their request which ended up jeopardizing the safety of the officers, as well as that of the general public. With all of the armed bank robberies here in Orange County as well as surrounding counties, let's not think for one moment that something similar to that incident could not happen here. It is time for Americans to snap out of their comfortable little dream world, and realize that our cities are now filled with Domestic Urban Terrorists whose only mission in life is to wreak havoc on law abiding citizens. We need to strongly stand behind our law enforcement officers and give them the support to deal with violent criminals expediently and effectively, sparing no expense to make certain that they are equipped with the best available hardware.

For those of you who do not remember the North Hollywood Bank Shootout, here are some informative videos to watch:

1997 North Hollywood Shootout Pt.1-4 (History Channel)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw94nN5qc_M&NR=1

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASdauLWH9SQ&feature=related

www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9SWG1f--GY&feature=related

www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7X3pRkRfTg&feature=related

A condensed version:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1agr5ik81I

Helicopter footage of the final shootout which ended the confrontation:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5Yl9Aoq2Ek

A re-enactment of a key event:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQnbvC08BlQ&feature=related

It should be noted, that after this violent confrontation was over, and both assailants were deceased, the family of one of the assailants attempted to pursue legal action against one of the SWAT officers personally. The family's allegations were unfounded and the officer was exonerated.

In closing I would like to state for the record that the acquisition of the new tactical rifles was a well thought out strategic move by the decision makers in the Orange County Sheriffs Office. If a situation like the North Hollywood robbery were ever to occur here, one round from this new weapons system and it would be game over, even if the perpetrator was wearing the best protective body armor available. In a critical situation such as this where seconds count, this force multiplier could save many innocent citizens from being harmed or killed.