Crime, But Not Enough Punishment?

     It was a very well attended anti-crime march in the Fort Lauderdale neighborhood of Progresso Village Friday night.

                                           
                                                  Neighborhood President Doug Sterner


        The neighborhood, on the edge of the Northwest part of Fort Lauderdale, butting up against Sunrise Boulevard, looked like it was going to be redeveloped during the last land boom, but only a few blocks of pretty townhouses got built before the boom went bust.

     Today, crime is the issue. Police Department statistics show the relatively small neighborhood bursting with crime in 2009. It ended the year with a 6% uptick over 2008 and logged 211 major crimes  (29 robberies, 34 burglaries, 93 car break-ins, 16 cars stolen, and 39 business burglaries).

     Compare those stats to similarly sized safe neighborhoods like Riviera Isles with 2 total crimes (both car break-ins) and the beaches’ Dolphin Isles with 5 total crimes (all burglaries).
[ Ironically, Progresso Village is on a list of possible locations to move the Downtown Vagrant Feeding Camps to.]

     Impressively, four of the five City Commissioners attended, only missing a full quorum with the absence of Commissioner Romney Rogers.

                  
Here’s some of last night’s action! 

                                               
                                         Commissioner Rodstrom and Chief Adderley – still friends


                                               
                                Commissioner Bobby Dubose and Housing Authority Scott Strawbridge


                                               
                      Townhouse builder Rene Lepine with Mayor Seiler and Commissioner Roberts  
  


                                                     

     The local residents sent out an e-mail last week saying they were “mad as hell, and not going to take it anymore. Looks like the powers -that- be might have heard them.                                     

                                                                      Stay Tuned!



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