Doesn't NY already have very strict gun control laws?

[sirs]

Shootings way up in two weeks

Bullets are flying over Broadway -- and everywhere else in the city.

The number of people shot surged 154 percent two weeks ago -- to 56 from 22 over the same week last year -- and spiked 28 percent in the last month.

Last week tallied another increase in victims -- 22 people had been hit through Friday, including the three victims gunned down outside a Brooklyn school Friday.

Last year, only 17 shooting victims were logged for the entire week.

The recent gunplay has now pushed the number of shooting victims this year slightly above last year’s tragic tally -- to 1,484 from 1,451 -- through Oct. 16.

Four high-ranking cops point the finger at Occupy Wall Street protesters, saying their rallies pull special crime-fighting units away from the hot zones where they’re needed.

Since Occupy Wall Street took over Zuccotti Park on Sept. 17, the NYPD has relied heavily on its borough task forces, the department’s go-to teams for rowdy crowds.

But such protest duty takes the special units away from their regular jobs -- patrolling public housing and problem spots and staking out nightclubs plagued by violence, supervisors said.

“Normally, the task force is used in high-crime neighborhoods where you have a lot of shootings and robberies,” said one source.

“They are always used when there are spikes in crime as a quick fix. But instead of being sent to Jamaica, Brownsville and the South Bronx, they are in Wall Street.”

Another NYPD boss is troubled by the resulting slowdown in stop-and-frisks.

When OWS marches, as many as 3,000 cops a day could be called on to keep the peace. That’s about 10 percent of the total force.

“The city is going crazy with demonstrations and protests, and I’m lucky if I can get four cars out there,” said Deputy Inspector Ted Berntsen, commander of the 13th precinct in Chelsea.

As the NYPD deals with depleted ranks, fewer thugs are going to jail. The Organized Crime Control Bureau -- an elite unit of hundreds of cops fighting drug dealers and gun runners -- has seen arrests plummet 19 percent this year.

Article

[BT]

As the NYPD deals with depleted ranks, fewer thugs are going to jail.

If only congress would get off their ass and pass the jobs bill.

[sirs]

LoL....indeed

[BT]

The govt and the media feed off each other.

[sirs]

A Democrat govt and the media feed off each other.

[BT]

No it happens with the GOP too.

[sirs]

Yea, it happens in how they're fed negative/unflattering coverage, compared to that of the Dems......for the most part.

[BT]

Dig a little deeper. Why would a reporter feed info for the administration? What do they get in return? And would that not apply to GOP administrations?

[sirs]

I've been plenty deep.  Consistently the media feed Democrats plum stories and Republicans get the lemons.  This is a prime example with your reference to "more jobs"...feeds Obama's and the Democrats' punch lines.

ergo, a Democrat govt and the media feed off each other

[BT]

The answer I was looking for was access. They print the disquised as news press releases in exchange for access to other more career building stories. It's about building relationships. And Reporters need relationships with the GOP as well as the Dems. Its a win win for both sides.



 

[sirs]

In theory perhaps.  In practice, it continues to be a Democrat govt and the media feeding off each other

[BT]

Nothing in theory about it. Notice how the media cooperated in the run up to the Iraq War.

[sirs]

Not really.  And then subsequent to that war, it was body count story, after more troop story, after quagmire story

[BT]

The media shifted when wmd's were not found. They probably thought Kerry had a chance, they also probably thought that the dems would retake congress by at least the 06 election.

The fact remains that a reporter with ambitions will develop resources no matter the party, and part of the bargain is the occasional fluff piece. They may be predisposed to backing lib causes but that doesn't exclude them from doing what is necessary to protect relationships with the conservative side of the aisle.

[BT]

Four high-ranking cops point the finger at Occupy Wall Street protesters, saying their rallies pull special crime-fighting units away from the hot zones where they’re needed.

Since Occupy Wall Street took over Zuccotti Park on Sept. 17, the NYPD has relied heavily on its borough task forces, the department’s go-to teams for rowdy crowds.

But such protest duty takes the special units away from their regular jobs -- patrolling public housing and problem spots and staking out nightclubs plagued by violence, supervisors said.

“Normally, the task force is used in high-crime neighborhoods where you have a lot of shootings and robberies,” said one source.

“They are always used when there are spikes in crime as a quick fix. But instead of being sent to Jamaica, Brownsville and the South Bronx, they are in Wall Street.”

Another NYPD boss is troubled by the resulting slowdown in stop-and-frisks.

When OWS marches, as many as 3,000 cops a day could be called on to keep the peace. That’s about 10 percent of the total force.

“The city is going crazy with demonstrations and protests, and I’m lucky if I can get four cars out there,” said Deputy Inspector Ted Berntsen, commander of the 13th precinct in Chelsea.

Which is actually a two-fer. You have a shortage of cops that leads to the increased crime that the Obama jobs bill would help with and then you have the OWS sucking up resources that could be put to better use fighting crime. So was the OWS jab a favor for cons or libs?