Politicos, Police and Propaganda

In response to the never-ending attacks on and around Atlanta college campuses the powers that be created a Task Force. And what we get from this Task Force is what we get from every other Task Force: a report.

This report would not be complete without the little nugget that every official Atlanta statement on crime includes: "There's no crime here in the A-T-L, there is just the perception of crime". Explicitly:

Though campuses are safer, the criminals have become more brazen, creating "a perception that students are at an increased risk," according to the report.

Really? Just a perception, eh? What about this inconvenient truth from the AJC:

In July, a 20-year-old undergraduate awoke in his Tech dormitory room to find two men stealing his laptop, cell phone and wallet.

"Move, and I'll shoot you dead," one of the suspects told the victim at gunpoint, according to a Tech police report.

Seriously, how can any responsible member of our community, especially officials, contend that being threatened with death by an armed intruder in your own home is merely a "perception"? And this is by no means an outlier:

That incident came a little more than a week after three other students were mugged off-campus by armed thieves.

Were they really mugged, or did they just perceive they were mugged? Should we just perceive taxes and not really pay them until we get significantly less perceived crime? Perhaps the State Legislature can step up and empower potential victims to help these thugs perceive they are in real danger of losing their lives whenever they attack.

Or maybe Atlanta should consider an effective Police Force instead of a pandering Task Force. Until then let the next "report" we hear be that of a potential victim protecting themselves.