Amber Taylor describes an egregious example of incompetence by the Washington, DC police:
Yesterday, two men tried to break into my friend's home while she was inside. One man attempted to pry the door open and the other tried to get in the window. She called the police and, because the men were still milling around in a nearby alley, she was able to identify the perpetrators. One of them had just been released that morning . . .
The police told her that "D.C. doesn't have an attempted burglary statute" and so they could not arrest the men. They let them go, although now they know who my friend is, where she lives, and that she fingered them to the cops.
As Amber notes in her post, DC does in fact have an attempted burglary law (see also here), and the police could have arrested the suspects on other charges as well.
Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. Despite its many virtues, Washington, DC has a longstanding reputation for having perhaps the worst city government in the country (see also here). That's one of the reasons why, when I moved to this area back in 2003, I chose to live in northern Virginia rather than in the District. Fortunately, I have had little occasion to use the services of the Fairfax County Police. But the one time I did need their help (a noise complaint that was a far less serious and urgent problem than that experienced by Amber's friend), they dealt with the issue swiftly and effectively. Perhaps if more people vote with their feet against DC, the District's political leaders will have some incentive to clean up their act.
DC has hefty income taxes of its own that are lost when people move out (higher rates than Virginia's, actually). Also, if more people move, property tax revenue is also likely to decline as real estate prices go down. Finally, some of DC's federal subsidies are keyed to the number of people who live in the area.
But any criticism of the district would probably be called racist. What's the use? After the OJ trial it is clear there are two Americas, one that abhors crime and one that hopes they never get caught.
The idea of "voting" with your feet is good in theory, but often unworkable in practice. Of course, it works for some people in practice, but would be entirely impractical for many others.
As I noted in my earlier post on voting with your feet (linked near the end of this one), the very poor are actually MORE likely to vote with their feet than the middle class and rich. Here in the DC area, all you have to do to vote with your feet is move to Maryland or Virginia, 2 neighboring jurisdictions only a few miles away. Can everyone do it? Surely not. But you don't have to have everyone do it in order to have an effect, just a large enough number to significantly dent the DC government's coffers.
However, the metro PD in DC apparently has 3x the cops per capita as Oakland. I guess that is 3x as many to ignore you.
Well after nearly two years of posts from your colleague and co-blogger about the housing market in the DC area, I seriously doubt it's easy for any DC resident to pick up and move to NoVa or MD (the very few in the NW excepted). Of course, this rests entirely on my baseless assumption that most people in DC are not as well off as a tenured law prof. I haven't checked the salary figures of coke dealers lately...they probably commute.
I guess that doesn't stop people from using "voting with your feet" arguments in all sorts of contexts. A classmate of mine tried to use this approach to constitutional rights. He argued that we can really live up to Brandeis' dream by letting each state or even locality offer its own little basket of rights: No abortions but M1A1 Abrams Tanks in Texas; Yes Gays No Guns in California; No Free Porn but State Religion in Utah; etc.
It was a hard sell. In the history of this country, other than the opportunity to earn wealth and the introduction of the car, I can't think of a single factor that has caused significant demographic shifts. And that's the problem. Everyone looks out for his/her best interest. If A, B, and C moved out of DC, X, Y, and Z will scoop up their lower priced homes and take over the jobs in a heartbeat. Why? Because they weren't even employed (or they're tenured law profs on the prowl for an affordable home). If there's any earthly possibility of the population of DC shrinking dramatically
I propose that we have an Orin Kerr poll on stamping out "voting with your feet" from the lexicon. It's about as useful a suggestion as actual voting.
Remember Chief Daryl Gates bragging about his master plan in case L.A. ever erupted in a riot again and what happened when it did. There was no plan; the LAPD ran scared and abandoned the city, only drawing the line at the Beverly Hills city limits.
The LAPD excel at harrassing prostitutes and shooting down deranged old ladies. Anything else is a bit too much for them.
And they wonder why the voters don't approve police bond issues.
I "pay" by having a longer commute, but it's not that much longer.
I have lived across the river in Alexandria, Virginia for eight years now. I've known several people since I moved here from New Jersey who settled in DC when they came here initially. All of those people eventually moved out of DC because it's just too expensive and dangerous.
"Voting with your feet" is a plausible option, it's just that only a subset of the population is inclined to carry it out. Many people are willing to put up with all manner of difficulties and expenses to live in a particular place because of either mere inertia or they don't want to leave where they grew up.
BTW, I have also only called the police once since I have been here. It was also for a noise complaint. The Alexandria police responded quickly and handled it professionally. Any city who employed police officers like the ones above would be a city from which I would quickly flee.
I also note that it seems like the very same jurisdictions that are so tardy with their police response are also the ones that seem most adament about disarming their citizenry. If this person had tried to use a gun a couple of months ago, she could have ended up in jail herself for failing to get a permit before moving the gun from one room to the next, or some such thing. Other big cities are almost as notorious about their gun restrictions, and Denver here in CO has convinced the courts that they should be excempt from the state wide gun laws passed a couple years ago.
City services have improved greatly over the last 10-15 years. I can, for example get motor vehicle administrivia done within an hour and do a lot of it on line, while 20 years ago it took an entire day. Anthony Williams deserves a lot of credit. As someone who has lived in large cities most of my life I feel no need to arm myself, but do understand that there can be a huge change within a short geographical distance and there are places to avoid.
Perhaps the biggest reason we chose to live in the District (Capitol Hill) was convenience -- Nationals and Wizards games (we split season tickets for both), the theatre, the Mall, the monuments, the ability to go out after work without having to worry about driving and/or riding the Metro for 45 minutes, and the 20 minute commute to work.
There's also intangible factors. I'll admit it, I enjoy seeing the Capital down Penn. everyday when I get on the Metro. I also think our neighborhood has more character than many of the surrounding suburbs.
Plus, while D.C. had a deservedly bad rap for taxes for years, now if you own a home it's cheaper than many places in MD and some in VA. Of course, what we get for our tax dollars is pitiful but I digress.
If/when schools became an issue that will likely cause us to move unless we decide to stomach the 20k+ that private school will cost, but given our current childless situation, D.C. is a great place to live.
They were paying signing bonuses and relocation. The bennies were also pretty good. I thought hard about it but decided to go to college.
I am suprised that the quality of police service didn't improve after hiring all those former Marines.
I have a 20-minute commute to downtown DC from Virginia. And, as occasional VC blogger Tyler Cowen notes, the ethnic restaurants are better here, too. (And the building I live in is taller than zoning laws permit apartment buildings in DC, so I even have as much of an urban environment as I would have in Upper NW DC.) But I can see the appeal of Capitol Hill for someone who attends 60 or so sporting events a year.
Not everyone is looking for a house as high end as I think David is.
at least some of which must have included the notion that housing costs are high, relative to rent. Your point rests entirely on your baseless assumption that most DC residents are homeowners (43% in 2005, vs 69% nationally).
Of course, expecting DC to come up with sensible gun laws - well, don't hold your breath that long, undertaker's fees are big bucks these days. I suspect that even if the Supreme Court tells DC that they've got to reform their gun laws, that the liberals that run the town will still manage to make owning - never mind carrying concealed - a usable gun extremely difficult for the average person.
The silver lining of such a SC ruling would be if they incorporated the second Amendment. That probably wouldn't help the people of DC, but up here in MA, we might get some benefit, as our State Constitution's arms right clause has been ruled to be a collective right (we have a right to keep and bear arms for the common defense) and so, in MA, you can't even own, let alone carry, a gun without a license, which has to be renewed every 5 or 6 years, and which, for handguns, is issued at the discretion of your police chief.
As far as the government realizing this and cleaning up its act -- that assumes rationality. This is a place that keeps on electing Marion Barry to leadership posts, remember. (The only good thing I can say for him is that I saw the movie and yes, the b****h set him up. He was looking for sex that night rather than cocaine).
Actually, it's a long record of bad government, and citations to 2 articles, plus a website compiling several more articles, only one of which dates back to 1989.
Have you heard of the Dust Bowl? Cops at the California line keeping the Okies out? Or have you heard of blockbusting and white flight? Or the Oregon Trail? Or the Gold Rush of '49 to California? Or the Klondike Gold Rush? Though I guess the Gold Rushes fall under the "opportunity to earn wealth" the other examples are all contrary to your statement.
Lived in DC briefly in 1979, got the heck out to Arlington and then Falls Church, VA. There is no way I'd live inside DC. BTW, DC's population was dropping over that and subsequent years, simply because anyone who could afford to get out was doing so. As I recollect, it fell from about 600,000 to 530,000 or so.
Yeah, I'm sure DC is the same as it was close to 30 years ago. Good analysis.
It is a concentrated version of what has been observed in Detroit, East St. Louis, New Orleans and other dysfunctional regions. The revenue base collapse has not hurt those cities' leaders. Of course they want a richer base, but ONLY if they can be guaranteed to have the same political structure forever. Given that such a deal is not possible, they prefer to keep the city poor. North Korea could not do a better job.
my quick take:
the claim that living in the city is so much more expensive than in NOVA is ridiculous. Rent (a figure I have more knowledge of than home prices) is just as expensive, or in some cases more, in areas of NOVA. Just compare rental rates in hot and not hot areas of DC with Ballston, Clarendon, Courthouse and Rosslyn. Granted, there is typically more in the way of new construction out there, but that isn't allways the case. And, there is a fair share of new construction (my place included) inside DC. Also -- after one year living and commuting on the Orange Line from NOVA, I wouldn't want to do that for a long time. Walking to work or the option of multiple lines within walking distance makes one hell of a difference.
It's a city. It has city problems. If people are really serious about helping to solve those problems, they should help turn it into a city that actually gets to run itself (DC Gov't gets to play around and make decisions that are ultimately voidable by Congress) and has full representation in Congress.
There's good evidence that slavery had a huge impact on where immigrants chose to live, namely in states without slavery. Of course, you could see that as an "oppportunity to earn wealth" issue, but it's pretty clear social factors played a big role as well.
And, yes, I live in Virginia (Arlington) and work in the District -- wouldn't have it any other way.
Some combination of the two is possible. I tend to believe 2). I would have thought that the police would "enjoy" arresting people for valid purposes. I suppose that is dangerous but the job has got to be pretty dull without that. Is it that the paper work is oppressive? Do they have some other dis-incentive? Is is because they are looking at future court appearances, interviews with DAs, and just an annoying hassle?
More seriously, putting DC aside for one second, how is voting with your feet ever a better option than voting? We got rid of a governor because he was a bumbling idiot (hardly a disqualification for political office), last I checked California is still growing. Cops suck? Vote the mayor, city council, police commission, etc. out of office. Even if you're renting, that's still cheaper than "voting with your feet."
And btw, how do renters vote with their feet? Again, putting aside the hill and NW crowd, how many of them are living month to month? If they move it's because they found a cheaper place or a better job, not because they want to cast a referendum on local politics. I can just see it now, single mom with 4 kids and food burning in the kitchen: "Pack up you little bastards. I'm sick and tired of our city councilman not having any townhalls."
hiring incompetents, gang members, etc. in the interest of "diversity" has led to bad results. who woulda thunk it?.
I will say that Adams Morgan was a great multi-ethnic neighborhood, about equal numbers of whites, Hispanics, and blacks. I never had any problems with crime myself, and of all my friends that lived in the 'hood, one had his pocket picked once. I could walk to work (and most other places), great restaurants, clubs, stores, etc.
It does depend on what stage of your life you're in, though. It's fun to be a yuppie in a smaller space in the city when your younger, then have a bigger place further out when you are older, have kids, etc.
As to voting with your feet, the big demographic shift from when I lived there to now is white and upper-middle class folks moving back into the city. Neighborhoods where I wouldn't have wanted to walk alone at night are now downright chic. The whole "U Street Corridor" area is unrecognizable from when I lived there.
None of this is to excuse bad/incompetent behavior by police. But again, I loved living in that city, and it's gotten "nicer" since I left.
if u had asked me months ago what the most incompetent major PD in the country was, DC would have been top of the list. it's been that way for years
that's what happens when your hiring is determined by racial and gender quotas, not ability
It's hard to separate the industrial revolution from the slavery issue, in part because slavery is (obviously) incompatible with the free labor ideology of capitalism. However, we can test the basic idea by looking to see where farmers migrated. And, again, the answer is clear -- they moved to the free states.
I am not a big fan of the "vote with your feet" theory. I think it's simplistic. The place where we live has hundreds, if not thousands, of identifiable characteristics which make it more or less desirable. Evaluating trade-offs with another state is extremely difficult except at the margins, i.e., when a particular factor takes on overwhelming significance for someone. That was true for slavery, it was certainly true for Hitler, but it doesn't have much relevance for America today.
Yes, but from what very little looking I did at housing prices in areas of VA where you could have a 20 minute commute driving (her) and walk a few blocks to a Metro stop (me), I wasn't seeing any great savings nor did I really see that many good options that were available.
In order to reap the benefits of VA living (lower housing costs + an actual backyard) it seemed to me like you either had to give up being close to Metro or give up being able to easily drive into the city.
My impression is that most such cities in the US are horribly run, even controlling for poverty (which of course is also partly a consequence of bad government--those who can, leave, black or white; and who would invest in such a place?). Think New Orleans, LA; Camden, NJ; Gary, Indiana; Compton, CA; East St. Louis. The new mayor of Newark seems to be trying, but he's cleaning up a cesspool, too.
Even in LA, King Hospital was created in what was then an overwhelmingly black area as a post-riot sop to the community and politicians. It has turned out to be a charnel house and may soon be closed.
I'd like to see an example of black success in municipal government in this country. Perhaps some commenter can point one out, but I can't think of one.
You should at least get credit for saying explicitly what some folks say in ways that try to disguise the racism: e.g., the poster in one of the Libby threads whining about how poor Scooter couldn't a fair trial in a city with so many "underclass" folks who "voted for Marion Barry."
Disagree, Slater. Detroit has given away or had taken away from them MUCH of their local governance. The State took over the failed school system. The Justice Department basically took over their failed police department (and lemme know if the DC cops ever let multiple jailed suspects die of medical issues in their cells on a regular basis, steal evidence and money constantly, and accept as "self defense" a police shooting where the cop had to stop and RELOAD to keep firing at an unarmed suspect)
Plus, the legendary black-robed fascist JOHN FEIKENS has been running the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department for the last THREE DECADES... and the DWSD is arguably one of the biggest public utilities in the world.
It ain't the Feds that wrecked DC or Detroit, my man, or if they HAVE... they've done it in equal measure.
DC has many failures as do other urban areas, but in this case here, Amber's inability to provide for her own personal defense is a result of the presence of a bunch of statist slugs who've glommed onto the District like leeches, and vote just as we'd expect statist slugs to vote, re local gun control laws.
If you limousine liberals weren't living there, it'd be JUST like Detroit... failed governance, perhaps, but at least the citizenry would have options for personal defense. Try breaking in on one of those old-school Southern brothas in my old neighborhood in Detroit... you WILL get a case of lead poisoning. And you know why that panderer Granholm signed that castle doctrine before her reelection last Fall, and why we passed concealed carry a while back? It was because those brothas don't LIKE it when some white liberal hack makes noises about disarming them... that's why. And Granholm knows the voters of all stripes will go that way, and she wanted to get her pretty tush back into that confortable seat, to keep her and her hubby on the public weal. Forget your "evil demopublicraticans" nonsense... open your eyes and look at the reality... compare these 2 situations... it jumps right out at you if you actually look. You white liberals need to drop your nonsense and stop discriminating against those brothas... and sistahs... as Granholm recognizes. I won't accuse you of racism, but the DC bantustans you've engendered contain people who have a right to defend themselves personally, even if you lefties don't want to.
If we organized an "ethnic cleansing" of you types from the District, and un-skewed the demographics your presence has created... I'd almost bet that Amber and the other vulnerables would have other choices available than dialing the incompetent police force... who right now probably arrive just in time to assist her by sliding her into a body bag.
Take a deep breath and relax. I wasn't talking about Detroit and, although my wife is from there so I know some things about it, I'm not debating that with you. Detroit and DC are very different cities -- an entirely different economic base, very different demographics (lots of white folks in DC), different government structures, etc.
This thread was about DC, as was my post, so even if I cared to parse your rant about Detroit, it wouldn't have much to do with what I was saying about my old neighborhood in DC, Adams Morgan. And just for the record, as to your "ethnic cleansing" line, I haven't lived in DC since 1999 -- I'm right on your border in scenic Toledo now.
And hey, too much caffeine is never enough!
--
OT: I gather you're involved in labor issues. You got any words of encouragement for me to pass onto my UAW buddies, re the upcoming trainwreck this Fall? Particularly, what do you know about this pension/retirement funds takeover? I gather it's probably a done deal, but if it's disastrous, now's a good time to get the word out.
And very briefly even more off-topic, while I am into labor issues, here in my ivory tower I'm not privy to enough details about the pension/retirement funds stuff give reliable advice. I do believe that the the UAW staff, including but not limited to their attorneys, are smart and responsible people that will do the best they can for their members. But we all know it's tough times for the big three, and putting all the costs of health insurance on private industry, as we do in the U.S., ain't helping them.
A rather unsubtle kind of political corruption seems very common among black politicians; perhaps it's because most are still parvenus and dining out on city credit cards seems enticing. Some whites, no doubt, adopt a more institutional kind of self-aggrandizement--vote the right way and get a lucrative lobbying job, university presidency, or think tank sinecure.
Still and all, the question is there--even controlling for the income and education of the populace, is there a well-administered black-dominated city government in this country? If so, where?
Is there one in the entire world?
But any criticism of the district would probably be called racist.
Well, when the criticism appears to be based on race, then yes.
Although your own lying eyes all see it, only one or two posters have alluded to this fact even indirectly--DC is a black majority city with an overwhelmingly black government.
Implying of course that all African Americans-even well educated ones-are corrupt.
Still and all, the question is there--even controlling for the income and education of the populace, is there a well-administered black-dominated city government in this country? If so, where?
Is there one in the entire world?
Unless that is a question borne out of tremendous naivete and innocence, I'll presume the implication is that IN THE ENTIRE WORLD there isn't ONE city run by "blacks" (who apparently can be African, American, European, or whatever) that is competently run and not corrupt. I presume A. Zarkov spent the decades of study it would take to know this, though perhaps I am giving him more credit than he deserves.