Crime Scene Investigation

 Last week, a mother and her eleven year old daughter were shot through the window of their Oakland home. In what has to be the goriest possible version of the Pollyana game, both are expected to survive their injuries. Which leaves them with a few options: move away from the place they have called home, living with the memories of walking past that window every day. Or they could move. This rings the bell in my head that sounds like "the terrorists win." I suspect there is a Lifetime Network movie already sketched out in which this brave pair not only remain in their house, but rally the neighborhood around them and force the miscreants from their block, their city, and their lives forever. 

But that's not how it works in real life. So far this year in Oakland, only thirty-one percent of the homicides in Oakland have resulted in arrests. One third, even as the murder rate continues to rise. We here in the East Bay are not alone in this as the United States continues to suffer through the additional pandemic of people killing one another. 

Unlike their TV counterparts, the victims of these crimes have their files moved to the unsolved cabinet while bodies continue to fall in the streets. And homes. And parking lots. And convenience stores. Statistics are kept in terms of "cleared" cases: those which the perpetrator has been arrested or merely identified. Prosecution is not part of that equation.

So where is the justice? Where is the peace? Where is the solace, the closure? 

Not on the streets of Oakland. The streets of Chicago. The streets of Albuquerque, Des Moines, Indianapolis, Memphis, Milwaukee and Syracuse. This sort of festival of death doesn't leave much room for escape. The virus of anger and fear continues to rage on even as we continue to practice our safety measures for COVID-19.

Sadly, there is currently no vaccine for idjits with guns. That window will be replaced. The wounds will begin to heal, and we will brace for what happens next, because this isn't a carefully orchestrated plan executed by master criminals. CSI will not be coming forward with their genius link between all these murders anytime soon, unless it's to say that they have uncovered a link between stupid people and guns. So there's your solace, I guess.