[speaker001:] Well, Hal, what's, uh, what's crime like in Dallas?
[speaker002:] Well, it depends where in Dallas you are.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] There are certainly parts of town I would not want to [LAUGHTER] live in.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Because it's the situation it is very location dependent
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and there are parts of town here where, when they talk about the nightly gunfire.
[speaker001:] Oh, yeah. Yeah, in Baltimore we have similar. Uh, I live on the outskirts of Baltimore and, uh, we live right outside the city and our neighborhood is pretty much working class people, though I'm in graduate school, uh, I live here because it's close to the university.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] But, you know, we have, uh, it, it's really funny, the only crime we really see is, uh, just the kids being malicious.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] You know, and I think most of that is because their parents aren't around. That make sense?
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] That, uh, the, what they call the latchkey children.
[speaker001:] Yeah, something like that. No one's, you know, or, or fathers are just missing, you know, so there's no, uh, no consistency there in the home or whatever. There's no one to tell them what's right and what's wrong, you know.
[speaker002:] Yeah. The sort of on my end is more of the upper middle class so
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] I think our, uh, not that we don't have a certain amount of local problems
[speaker001:] Uh-huh [faint].
[speaker002:] but on the other hand, uh, we get the, uh, affect of the, uh, the city and, uh, the main crimes within the suburb here are the, the theft crimes.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] A small number of assaults, uh, well, if we have one murder a year
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] that's probably as many, but then, you know, you go into Dallas and they are, unfortunately
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] uh, having murders
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] at a rate greater than one a day.
[speaker001:] Yeah, I think that's, we're about the same in Baltimore. Though, uh, Washington, I think is, uh, close by and, you know, they experience a lot more.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] I think they definitely have more problems that, uh, in, in the area. What, what do you think can prevent crime?
[speaker002:] Well, the thing is, I don't, it's one of those things where, if you're a grad student you can appreciate the statistics on
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Unfortunately there are often these correlations that are inverse of what they should be like, uh, wherever there are more, uh, criminals, there are more policemen
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] but that's which came first.
[speaker001:] Yeah [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] But, on the other side of it is it's, it's basically the, the problem is within the, in the society
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and the society's views and, well, uh, since now I'm in my mid-forties, when I was in grad school or when I was an undergraduate growing up in a more rural area
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] I thought, you know, crime was, was reasonably unknown
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] and just the situation that's developed with the, the drug *new slash unit?
[speaker001:] Yeah, I think, *slash error
[speaker002:] aspect of, uh
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] uh, the pushers, the dealers and the addicts, uh,
[speaker001:] Yeah, I, I, I think, I agree with you there.
[speaker002:] Because it just was not, uh, something back in the sixties that
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] uh, I even had to worry about. But I think, you know, that there is a lot in the society where things have changed, uh, so it's effected all of us.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. Yeah, I think they, the drug culture definitely has, uh, is one of the main problems. Yeah, our, uh, our mayor in, uh, [lipsmack] Baltimore is one of the people that goes on national television and says they should, uh, legalize drugs. *slash error
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] [Lipsmack] Because it would eliminate the, uh, the violence and the, uh, the under-, [lipsmack] the, the market, I guess, the, the hidden market of the drugs and everything that goes along with it. *sv
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] That make sense? He's one of the big proponents of that. He gets on national television and, and says that, you know. So it's, uh [lipsmack], and he was a d-, d-, a District Attorney before, and a prosecutor before becoming, becoming mayor. So that's a really stran-, you know, it's a different viewpoint. I, uh,
[speaker002:] You know, in a sense I don't, I'm n-, I have real mixed feelings on that
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] because it comes a bit from the angle that the, uh, uh, it would certainly be an interesting test
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] but the other side of it, to me,
[speaker001:] What happens if we lose worse.
[speaker002:] Uh, y-, well, the other side is that unfortunately some of the down side, and I think if I look back fifty or a hundred years I'd say, you know, back then there were the opium dens
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] but the thing is, if somebody ruined their life, uh, society didn't try to then save themselves from it, they let this person who had ruined it
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] uh, become, well, die or whatever. I mean
[speaker001:] Right, yeah.
[speaker002:] they probably became weakened physically and other things to the point that their life expectancy was real short, but now we tend to believe somewhere in the health care system otherwise, we need to take care of people even if they have, you know, physically ruined themselves.
[speaker001:] Yeah, they have induced it themselves.
[speaker002:] Yeah
[speaker001:] Yeah, that's true.
[speaker002:] and so, to me that's, I, uh, I would certainly like to see a real test of, of making drugs real cheap
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] to see if when you make them available people then don't use them.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. Well I think
[speaker002:] Uh, *slash error
[speaker001:] you know, they did that in Alaska. That, that actually, Alaska just recently legalized marijuana. *two utts
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] But I never, I never heard results or anything like that, so I never, you know, plus, that's such a, that's not a true, uh, [lipsmack] you know, it really couldn't be a good test because Alaska's so different than every other part of the country.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] You know, so that, but that was interesting, you know, I, I don't, crime is one of those things that's, uh, [lipsmack] I, I don't know, you know, the drug culture, the, uh, the, uh, you know, I, I see it with the kids in the neighborhood just stealing things, not thinking anything wrong with it.
[speaker002:] Yeah, well, th-, some of that, and, of course, I'm a baby of the old school
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] but, it, it bothers me from the fifties on, not that I'd remember that much
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] from the fifties but, but basically we have so much more of the something for nothing mentality.
[speaker001:] Yeah, that's true. That's true. We worked hard for everything. That's very true.
[speaker002:] And so they
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] in the, there were the sixty-four thousand dollar question shows in the fifties, but nowadays, there's so much on TV where, where people seem to have the idea they can get something for nothing. Of course
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] uh, I work for lawyers a lot and I see, unfortunately, we have this whole mentality that somehow there are these pots of money out there that you can sue somebody and, you know, there's a million dollars you can have
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] uh, for mental duress or whatever.
[speaker001:] Yeah [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] But, you know, the other thing that bothers me in the crime is the, uh, in Europe, they seem to have mentality, and drunk driving is a good one, is that people are well indoctrinated in their society that drunken driving is unacceptable.
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] And, yeah, if you're going to drink, and you may drink, you better have your designated driver.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] In this country, and for example with alcohol or with drugs is, we don't seem to understand how to handle it as a society to say okay, it is okay under these circumstances, but if you step outside these bounds, the punishment is extreme. *slash error
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] And we mean it.
[speaker001:] Yeah. That, I think that, uh, the drunk driving has just actually, just caught on. Uh,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] A-, and I, I, I really, uh, my father was hit by a drunk driver when I was in high school
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and, uh, that was a very, uh, that, that was an awful three years afterwards. You know, of recovery
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and the difficulties and, uh, everything we did and, you know, the guy went free because this was twelve years ago
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] thirteen years ago, there was no, his father was even, the, uh, police chief of the town.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] So there was no repercussion at all. You know, other than insurance, but he was uninsured.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] So, uh, our insurance paid for everything, but it was a very difficult time and, and then later, this was actually funny, my brother and I were picked up by the police for questioning because this fellow had bought a, a new car and somebody had taken like a baseball bat to it
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and broke all his windows and his lights and his, dented it everywhere, and they came and questioned us.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] You know, and,
[speaker002:] But, that kind of shows how our attitude toward drinking
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] and driving was, uh, misplaced
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] for years
[speaker001:] Yep. *slash error
[speaker002:] that, you know, it was an acceptable social behavior.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. Yeah, very much so. Yeah, that, those are some important points. Yeah, I, that's, those are,
[speaker002:] What are, what does your city have for gun control if anything?
[speaker001:] Well, see Maryland is one of the most, we just voted in, uh, gun control, strong gun control here in the state of Maryland. I, I think,