Scarlet Letters

By: Mr. Wilson on January 13, 2006

I am wary of the proposal to red tag houses which have been the site of nuisance complaints for things like noise or litter. It strikes me as a feel-good Band-Aid solution rather than a real solution, not unlike Mayor Seng's proposed 1,000 foot rule for sex offenders. I'm not defending folks who keep an unruly house. You're more than welcome to do whatever you want in your house, right up until it harms your neighbors. The college students (and, to a lesser degree, others) targetted by this bill won't get any sympathy from me if their shenanigans get them in trouble. I just don't think that red tagging houses will do much good, and I think it masks some of the real problems that need to be solved. One of those problems is summarized at the end of the article:

[Ed Caudill, a 21-year North Bottoms resident and neighborhood activist] said two encounters with police — who rebuked him for calling the police so frequently — were the last straw.

I see two problems there. First, and most obviously, Lincoln's police officers cannot be rebuking citizens for calling the police to report crimes. If Mr. Caudill's accusation is true, it should be investigated and the officers involved should be punished. Second, one wonders why Mr. Caudill has to call the police so often in the first place. If there really is that much crime in the neighborhood, LPD needs to step up its patrols and its enforcement of the law. Granted, the offenses committed in Mr. Caudill's neighborhood are probably mostly nuisances, not violent or dangerous crimes. But they are, nonetheless, crimes against others, and therefore they need to be squashed. On a very minor point, the notion that it takes "a gallon of gasoline and a razor blade" to remove the signs also bothers me. The police should not be damaging citizens' homes. If they're going to be causing damage, why not just spray paint a giant letter A (for "assholes live here") on the side of the house? I have other niggling concerns about the proposal, but ultimately I think it's an inefficacious solution to only a portion of the problem. Nuisance houses are a problem, but there are better and more complete solutions available. I won't settle for short-term feel-good ordinances.

Comments

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foxspit

January 13, 2006 at 5:28PM

So what’s next?

If they red tag “problem” houses, will they red tag problem citizens?

It’s too intrusive to me and should not be done.

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