My neighborhood has been in the grips of a crime wave. There have been six "gang related" shootings within five blocks of my house, several of the shootings have resulted in casualties but no killings. There was non-gang related shooting in which a young man in a car accidentally discharged his weapon and killed his cousin. There was an on street mugging one house away from min. Two of the gang related shootings happened on my block. None of the shooters seem to live in the neighborhood but some of the victims do.

There is a large public housing complex a dozen blocks away which many people believe is the origin for much of the violent crime.

For the most part I don't feel like I'm in any danger in my neighborhood. The muggers worry me but unless I got caught in random crossfire and a lucky magic bullet were to find me I don't think I'm in any danger of being shot. All the shootings have been committed by and aimed at Black gang members and that's not really my scene, it's like another world that runs beside and parallel to my own.

Unrelated to the violence there is a cluster of Meth users scattered around the neighborhood. They like to steal stuff. Cars, garages, packages on porches and some scooters and motor cycles. I caught someone creeping in my driveway and they scattered while I grabbed shoes and a weapon but otherwise they haven't done me any harm. They did steal my best friends scooter, which was his main source of transportation and was a bummer for him.

I'm more worried about the Meth heads than the gang bangers.

Anyone who knows me well on Hubski knows I pretty generally hate the police but I have to say I've been pleasantly surprised by the ones I've met since I moved into the neighborhood a year and a half ago. They have been courteous, friendly and open to discussing the situation in the neighborhood. They have made some arrests in the gang cases and are trying to grind the meth thieves out of the neighborhood. Same police force as my old neighborhood but the tone of the officers in this neighborhood is totally different form the aggressive dickheads they had patrolling in my old neighborhood.

So how's crime in your neck of the woods? Do you think I should feel more worried by the violence in my neighborhood? If I had a Black teenager I think that I'd be pretty concerned about he or she getting caught up in the crossfire but as it is we are all living in two worlds.