Gunfight in Dorchester kills suspect, sends cop to hospital

One understands that there are plenty of corrupt or trigger happy police staff out there in the country. However the facts of this case have been reported and the person being labeled as a criminal was in fact engaged in numerous criminal activities: Illegal Possession of a Firearm, Illegal Carrying of a Concealed Weapon, and [the big one] Attempted Murder [of a police officer]. So it is hard to see how any other side of the story could make one feel much sympathy for the deceased individual. One feels sorry for the family who is grieving, and one feels sorry that the situation occurred the way it did. But one does not feel sorry for someone who even if they never fired at said police officer was already guilty of crimes deserving harsh punishment.

One does in fact typically see commenters here condemning all criminal activity regardless of the race of the perpetrator, just look at the previous post from today regarding a sex offender caught in Brookline. Or any previous such posts regarding sex offenders or murderers. Hell, you can be condemned on Universal Hub for leaving a stroller in locked across a sidewalk or using a space saver for a parking spot [not that one should not be condemned for such selfish acts].

Another anonymous poster here even went so far as to say it is right for people to be robbed or mugged for the money they earned because the criminals robbing them are poor. That exhibits such a sociopathic view of right and wrong that it makes me believe there may be no hope that certain people can ever be rehabilitated or made to understand the correct way to behave in society. They're not even complaining about some big bank or business - but saying that individual people [who may not even be better off than themselves but wealth is irrelevant here] are valid targets for violence and theft. That rather than have to go get a job and work for a living [which they are more than capable of doing - there are thousands of businesses in the city that do not have discriminatory hiring practices] it is ok to hurt someone for their possessions. Yes, the minimum wage, low-skill jobs out there do not pay enough but it is at least a start. And know that there is a strong movement for workers rights' that is pushing to raise that minimum wage further still and it is thought they will at least partially succeed in their efforts.

I also note that some 98% or more of the people in these impoverished communities and neighborhoods [% based on crime rates per population] are not out shooting or threatening people in order to steal money from them. Most of those people are in fact working hard in valid employment or going to school [or both] in order to better their employment opportunities. And those people don't like that they are being terrorized by a bunch of thugs with guns and a sense of self-entitlement and callousness towards the value of life, safety, and happiness.

Also we all live in the same city. Some of us even live or have lived in such neighborhoods the poster is referring to as "a hood". That some of the posters are willing to sell their own neighborhood short - and that certain residents of such neighborhoods seem willing to allow decrepitude and litter to abound - shows a lot about them. Rather than try to make where they live a better place - such as countless residents of former slums have done - such as the North End, Allston, South End, Fort Hill, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain - they would rather give up on their neighborhood and the people living there. The key is to find ways to improve the neighborhood without gentrifying it beyond ones means. This means that one must make the neighborhood a better place to live by not committing crimes, or careless abandon. Then when the price of housing rising as a result of this, one must seek ways to increase one's income legally instead of raging uselessly against the progress. Maybe one could work hard and save money and buy now while it is still cheap and take good care of your home and your neighborhood - then one will be sitting on a valuable commodity once crime has decreased.