An Orlando cop has gotten himself into trouble because he was caught referring to black people at a local gay bar as ‘savages.’
The bar, called Parliament House, is right between two notoriously crime ridden neighborhoods: Paramore, and Pine Hills. I have written about Pine Hills being one of Orlando’s ‘no go’ zones before. In fact, I have blogged about the neighborhood on many occasions. Pine Hills is one of the 4 most dangerous zip codes in America.
Savages, indeed.
Like all large cities, there are areas of Orlando that are just not safe to enter. In Orlando, one of those areas is Pine Hills. Locals have referred to that area as “Crime Hills” since the late 80’s. The area of Pine Hills used to be an upscale neighborhood that primarily housed engineers who worked for Martin Marietta’s (later Lockheed Martin) Orlando plant. It was the first neighborhood in Florida to contain golf courses. At just over 12 square miles, this neighborhood is just about 1% of the total land area of the county, but accounts for 10% of the murders, and 15% of robberies.
Martin Marietta was once the largest employer in Orlando, with 15,000 employees. I remember when I was a child, my father (who was an engineer for an electronics firm) used to do work there, but he could never tell me what he did there, claiming it was classified. However, he would occasionally bring home pictures of missiles being test fired, which my brother and I happily hung on our walls.
By 1987, that payroll had declined to 5,700. The engineers have moved away, and the area is now what they call an “ethnically and racially diverse” neighborhood where crime runs rampant. The census figures for the area’s income are unreliable because the statistical area includes a high income area that makes it appear to be more affluent than it is.
So with that background, we are now equipped to hear the tale of how Tavaris Davis got robbed. Apparently, one man at a convenience store was robbing another at gunpoint, and the two began shooting at each other. Then a third man joined in. Marksmanship was poor, because all of the shots exchanged hit cars, buildings, etc. with only one person being hit in the ankle. When Tavaris Davis realized what was going on, he fled. While fleeing, he was robbed at gunpoint by a group of locals who were unrelated to the individuals robbing each other at the nearby store.
The vast majority of gun violence in this nation is located within just a few square miles. The rest of the nation has a crime rate that is on par with Canada. The areas that are filled with crime tend to be “diverse” neighborhoods. Unless we can have an honest conversation about race and the causes of crime without people calling others “racist,” we can never find a solution.
If you are a guest who is legally carrying a concealed weapon, Disney doesn’t want you there.
If you are an employee who legally has a concealed weapon, Disney will fire you.
If you are a child molester and child pornographer, Disney thinks you deserve a second chance.
Taking a break from my trip report to talk about a news story that appeared in the Orlando Sentinel back in May:
Carver Middle School is an F rated school in the middle of the Pine Hills neighborhood, located west of Orlando, in Orange County. This school’s students tested in the lowest 3 percent of all students nationwide. In order to correct this, Orange county is attempting to lure the best teachers in the state to the school by offering an extra $20,000 a year to teachers willing to work there.
The problem is that the school is in a crime ridden, poverty stricken neighborhood. I have blogged about Pine Hills and its surrounding neighborhoods before. More than once. The school is 91% black, 6% Hispanic of any race, and less than 1% white. Seventy percent of the students receive free or reduced lunch.
Both the violent and non-violent crime rates in Pine Hills are double the national average. Police officers are shot and killed in the area of this school often enough that several streets in the area are named for fallen officers, and shootings happen there nearly every night. The local government repeatedly dumps millions of dollars into this blighted area in an attempt to “clean up” the crime problem, to no avail.
Currently, the teachers there are inexperienced first or second year teachers who transfer away at first opportunity. Teacher pay is tied to student performance, and combined with the crime in the neighborhood, teachers avoid the area like the plague.
Any teacher who accepts a job at this school is placing his or her life in jeopardy. A $20,000 bonus is not worth it, in my opinion. The plan likely will not work and be a waste of money, anyway. You cannot, no matter how good of a teacher you are, teach a student who does not want to learn. The crime problems need to be addressed, the gangs eliminated, the drugs under control, before you can convince the students to give up the thug lifestyle and learn.
If you work at Disney and are arrested for more than 400 counts of producing child pornography and molesting children, you will be suspended because Disney cares about your rights, and doesn’t want to fire you unless you are convicted of a crime.
Unless you are a gun owner and aren’t accused of a crime, because guns.
One of the most common things that you hear in Central Florida when you carry a concealed weapon is that you don’t need to carry a gun to the theme parks, because they are for kids, and no crime happens there.
The place is, of course, a target rich environment for all sorts of criminals. Child molesters, for example:
The report states when deputies searched Jiang’s phone, they found numerous inappropriate pictures of children between 4 years old and 7 years old taken inside of the park — including one in a bathroom stall.
Disney has a no weapons policy for everyone. If they find out you have a weapon on their property, they do their best to have you arrested. Since many of the deputies that are on property are working there as a side job while wearing their taxpayer supplied uniform, weapon, and radio, and are standing there doing their employer’s (Disney’s) bidding while being covered in the qualified immunity afforded to police officers, the person caught with a weapon on property is often arrested for SOMETHING, and then trespassed.
Of course, when their employers are accused of an actual crime like pedophilia or distribution and possession of child pornography, they are given a free pass.
This policy leaves guests and employees defenseless against criminals. This explains why the critters have started robbing Disney employees who are on their way home.
I go to the theme parks. I carry a gun. That is exactly why.
A Disney employee was arrested yesterday for possession and solicitation of child pornography. This happens at Disney with a fair amount of frequency. With Disney being such a target rich environment for criminals of all types, it doesn’t surprise me.
What does surprise me is Disney’s attitude towards the problem. When an employee of the company is arrested for child pornography, Disney suspends them, pending the outcome of the charges. The company states that the accused employees are innocent until proven guilty.
That same courtesy does not apply to employees that are found to have a firearm in their car. Doug and Linda Gray, had been faithful employees of the company for a decade, and were fired in 2007 after it was discovered that they had a firearm in their car. They also were given a trespass warning that barred them from ever again entering company property.
A security guard was fired for having a gun in his car in 2008, despite the fact that Florida had recently signed a “guns in parking lots” law that prohibits an employer from taking action against employees who bring guns to work and leave them in the car. Disney claims that they are exempt, but that is smoke and mirrors.
In short, pedophiles are innocent until proven guilty of a crime. Gun owners, having committed no crime, are guilty. Disney, whose policy violates the law, denies being guilty of anything.
Thanks for enabling the child molesters, Disney.
Early this morning, an Orlando police officer attempted a traffic stop on Bruton Boulevard near Chandler Street, which is near the corner of LB McLeod and John Young Parkway. He got into a gunfight with the occupants of the vehicle, and was severely injured in the exchange of gunfire. Two officers were shot, one of them fatally, on that corner 13 years ago. Some things never change.
23-year-old Demetrius Patterson was taken into custody shortly before 8
a.m. saying Patterson has been arrested 42 times prior to the shooting. Arrested 42 times by the age of 23. I looked up his arrest record at the Orange County Clerk’s office website. Some of his arrests included selling drugs, 3 arrests for burglary, brandishing a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, along with two paternity suits from two different women, and that is just his adult record in only one county.
This area is in the middle of Florida’s 5th congressional district (changed to the Tenth in 2013), a district that is staunchly Democrat (formerly Republican, before the Democrat-sponsored gerrymandering redistricting).The neighborhood where the shooting occurred is called “Richmond Heights,” and is bordered on the east by Bruton Boulevard and on the west by President Barack Obama Parkway. The area is over 80% black. It is also a high crime area. It is bordered by the Pine Hills neighborhood to the north, which locals refer to as “Crime Hills.”
Here is a youtube video that illustrates what is typical of the area:
So now you have a picture of what is going on.
The black community is filled with young males who are stealing, robbing, killing, dealing drugs, and breaking the law. The nuclear family has all but ceased to exist in the black community. These young criminals are then getting women pregnant, and the cycle starts all over.
Before accusing me or anyone else of racism and blaming us for the problem, why not start where the problem lies?
Florida Law Enforcement agencies have long followed a policy of denying the existence of gangs in the state, even though it is at odds with the opinion of the Florida Attorney General’s office [pdf alert] Florida police agencies say gang members use any information released about the crimes they commit to glamorize their lifestyles and attract new members. The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office generally follows that policy.
That policy, it seems, is failing.Hardly a day goes by when there is not a reported shooting in the Central Florida area, and many other violent crimes go unreported. Due to the long standing policy of ignoring gang related crimes, it is impossible to get an accurate picture of gang related crime in the area, but I can tell you from personal experience that it is growing.
The frequency of gang related graffiti is growing, as is the frequency of gang member sightings. The Outlaws Motorcycle gang has a clubhouse not far from where I live. A couple of friends of mine were recently riding their motorcycles and were stopped by five Outlaws, who told them that no one is allowed to ride motorcycles in the area as a part of any motorcycle riding club, unless that riding club paid dues to the Outlaws. They then demanded that my friends remove the leather jackets, and pay a fine of $50 cash on the spot. Outnumbered 5-2 by armed gang members, they paid.
The Latin Kings have staked out Poinciana as their territory, as well as parts of Kissimmee. The Bloods own other parts of Kissimmee. Saint Cloud has problems with white gangs like the Aryan Brotherhood. Orlando has similar gang and violent crime problems.
Your odds of being a victim of a violent crime in Osceola County are 1 in 100. In Orange County, the odds double to 1 in 50.Obviously, there are things you can do to reduce those odds. Don’t go into bad neighborhoods like Pine Hills (aka Crime Hills), Paramore, McLaren Circle, Waterway Village, and other notoriously unsafe areas. Don’t be a gang member, sell drugs, or engage in other highly risky behavior.
It is more likely that you will be a victim of a violent crime than involved in a car crash or a house fire with a fatality.You don’t hesitate to wear a seat belt, or own smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, and other safety devices, yet the odds favor your using a firearm to defend your life more often than any of those other items.