Rightfully so, Councilwoman Hicks took righteous umbrage at this slandering of a part of Fort Worth she has worked hard to improve.
I wonder how Galveston is feeling about also being on this dubious list of the 25 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods?
Below is a statement released by Kathleen Hicks regarding NeighborhoodScout's Dangerous Neighborhoods list....
As the City Council Representative for District 8, I am appalled by a blog that asserts East Lancaster Avenue as the 15th Most Dangerous Neighborhood in the country.
NeighborhoodScout® is owned and operated by Location Inc.®, a Rhode Island-based real estate location company. NeighborhoodScout®/Location, Inc.® uses data from 17,000 local law enforcement agencies and the FBI to compile a national database of neighborhood crime statistics. However, we do not know what information was used or how the information contained in the study was collected or analyzed since it is considered to be "exclusive data".
Our Fort Worth Police Department contacted NeighborhoodScout®'s Dr. Schiller who explained that their method for data collection and analysis was "proprietary" and would not disclose any other information. The company did state that the numbers they collected were from 2008. Along with saying this neighborhood is dangerous, the company also reported that the East Lancaster Avenue community was more "walkable" than 76 percent of U.S. neighborhoods and more "hip & trendy" than 67 percent. Furthermore, the 76102 zip code was included, which is our award winning downtown area. The numbers don't add up.
The Fort Worth Police Department reports crime using the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS), which is above and beyond the national FBI standard, the Uniform Crime Report (UCR). Our crime reporting is scientific, transparent and accurate because we focus on the number of individual victims versus the number of crime incidents. There are only about 15 cities that report crime using the NIBRS method.
The FBI recognizes NIBRS as the most accurate and credible method of reporting crime. We have no way of knowing what standard Dr. Schiller used to collect and/or analyze the crime data, and since it is considered "exclusive" and "proprietary," we are not able to verify its accuracy.
In recent years, Fort Worth has made ending homelessness a top priority. We work hand in hand with other local governmental entities, community based organizations and neighborhoods to address this important issue. Moreover, the council unanimously approved a new police station that will be located at East Lancaster and McCart.
The progress this community has made in a short period of time is to be applauded, not criticized with outdated or misleading facts. Furthermore, regurgitating old stereotypes about this area is both misleading and offensive. The residents, our Police Department and countless other stakeholders are working very hard every day to continue our progress in all areas of our great city.
I want every resident of Fort Worth to have confidence in our police officers whose mission is crime suppression and public safety. Rest assured that neither the people of Fort Worth, nor the city government of Fort Worth, will tolerate inaccurate representations of our city or communities.
For more information, contact Councilmember Kathleen Hicks' office at 817-392-8808 or District8@fortworthgov.org. To see the crime statistics for the area in question, visit the Fort Worth Police website.
No mention of other places and people being "green with envy", huh? People who are homeless have many problems, chief among them substance abuse, mental illnesses, and poverty. Those are a recipe for criminal activities, which is why the lord$ of FW have tried to keep these poor souls contained in the E.Lancaster ghetto area and OUT OF THE so-called tourist/downtown district. It was mainly b/c the population had grown to an unmanageable level and the realization that this is the only large city without any decent plan to help their homeless citizens that they looked to places like Seattle a couple of years ago to copy their plans. BTW, why brag about putting a new police station in that area...b/c it only points to the need for more and quick police intervention and thus lends credence to this report/conclusion? Unless, FW just does things with no good reason at all.
ReplyDeleteEFW Business Owner, I will admit it crossed my snarky little mind to wonder if Fort Worth would have a city wide celebration due to the extremely rare occasion of FW being listed in the Top 25 of something, even a dubious honor like having a Top 25 Dangerous Neighborhood. Didn't we have a city-wide celebration for making the Top 10 Most Obese List? Or was that when FW was on a bogus D.C. lobbying group's list of best Urban Villages, or something like that? It gets hard to remember all the things in FW that the rest of the planet is green with envy about.
ReplyDeleteNo one who lives in this area, including me, likes this dubious distinction. Hell, I live here. I put on a major festival 3 blocks from E. Lancaster. BUT... denial is just a river in Egypt, I'm told. Let's put more energy in fixing it than we do in denying it. Don't shoot the messenger. Irresponsible drilling in the hood only compounds the problem. It attracts bad elements starting with the CEO's of XTO and CHK. Get to the root of the problem by following the dots to City Hall. That's where the bad elements hang out.
ReplyDelete