|
We're Being Watched!
"This is just a way for police to profile teens, especially young Latino and black men."
By Orlando Campbell
Listen
to this Commentary!
Youth Radio's Orlando Campbell lives in the city of San Francisco California, where government officials have installed surveillance cameras to try and lower the city's crime rates. Officials have also decided to ban “so-called gang members” from neighborhoods known for violence. Orlando does not feel either will help lower crime rates in his city he believes it’s just a way to profile young minorities.
We’re being watched. But my friends and I aren’t on a reality TV show. We’re living in some of San Francisco’s toughest neighborhoods.
The city of San Francisco has started installing surveillance cameras in housing projects and rough neighborhoods. City police have also started classifying certain people as gang members based on things like age or previous arrests. These so-called “gang members” are being banned from known turfs, or places where there’s been previous gang violence.
These are two ways the city is trying to cut down on crime.
I know for a fact that the new policy won’t stop a killer from driving by and letting off a few shots in the direction they choose.
This is just a way for police to profile teens, especially young Latino and black men.
I’ve lived and hung out in both the Mission and the Fillmore. I’ve been outside numerous times when shots have gone off and seen my friends shot in front of my own eyes. But for kids like me, these places are always our home. We never leave because we can’t relate to anything else.
The root causes of crime need to be addressed before the creation of laws that ban people from the places they call home.
|
|
