Pen-Elayne on the Web

Secure in Our Persons

No, this has nothing to do with my last entry (below) but, come to think of it, it might make a good euphemism. Today's NYCBlogger/RNN question of the day is Has Security Improved in NYC Since 9/11? Well, certainly not around City Hall (see my July 23 entry), but I suppose that's beside their point. As I noted on May 4, visible "security" abounds, mostly in the form of National Guardsman patrolling all over the place giving the city a distinct feeling of a police state. But does this show of bravado actually make us feel safer? I'll stick with what I said back then: in my opinion, "they're not there to protect as much as intimidate, on the theory that a fearful population is a docile one." Do I have any better ideas on how to make NYC safer? Not off the top of my head, but then I never claimed to have the answers, and I don't think it's necessarily incumbent on someone to provide solutions every time they point out a problem, particularly if it's not in their particular area of expertise.