For the first time in more than four decades, Los Angeles is on track to end the year with fewer than 300 killings, a milestone in a steady decline of homicides that has changed the quality of life in many neighborhoods and defied predictions that a bad economy would inexorably lead to higher crime.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-la-crime-20101217,0,1871598.story

Law enforcement credits decline to lower drug use.

Homicides, which are less likely than other crimes to go unreported, are a bellwether of overall crime rates. Through Dec. 18, the LAPD had posted an 11% decline city-wide in overall violent crime — homicides, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults — compared with the same period last year. Major property crimes in the city were down 6% from last year, according to LAPD statistics. It is the eighth consecutive year that crime has fallen in the city.

According to the article, Stevus, all kinds of crimes are down. I think maybe these cities just have a tipping point. So many criminals have been arrested or killed or deported that there are simply less "usual suspects" around to commit the crimes. Remember that most people in jail are career criminals, responsible for many more crimes than those that put them in jail to begin with. Start removing these players from the board, one by one, and eventually you will see some progress. The same thing happened in Washington D.C. and New York City in the late 90's.  

 :cop: I just hope that cutbacks in training and hiring new officers doesn't cause the crime rate to skyrocket back up again.  

Yes, many people are in prison for minor offenses or are mentally unstable and other major criminals walk free. The crime began to get out of control in L.A. more than thirty years ago and just now they are beginning to get a grip on it. The same thing happened in NYC. Is this the result of incompetence and sloth or part of a plan to empty out the cities and destabilize the society?

Nevertheless, there are good cops on the beat who are not at fault for these problems. They have their hands tied a lot of times to deal with real criminals, yet it seems that the Justice Department has money to burn when it comes to cracking down on "hate crimes" or tax evasion.

When the time comes to put the screws to Trads, I don't think the action will come from the sheriff or city cop. I don't see Trads being hauled away in Army vehicles to FEMA camps, although that is a possibilty; look at what happened to those Mormons in Texas a few years ago. No, I think if the Powers That Be decide to shut up Trads it will be much more insidious. I think our passports will be taken away, bank accounts frozen, credit denied, schools closed or kids forced to attend public school instead of home schooling, web sites will be shut down, etc. They don't want to make martyrs out of us.

I am a social worker. I think you are thinking of Belloc. He is a former police officer.We both live in NC. I could see how you got us confused.

Gee, I hope not. But if it happens, it happens.

I also see a parallel with the forty years of wandering, but remember that God left the Israelites in captivity in Egypt and Babylon for much longer than that. The early martyrs endured three hundred years of persecution under the various Caesars. Personally, I think we'd be getting off easy if we only had to suffer for forty years.