A Dark And Quiet Room

Yes. This.

Beautiful Feet

Lord God, John Knox once prayed, “Give me Scotland or I die.” I confess that my vision is not as broad as his. But Lord…give me Peoria. Give me the South Side. Give me the Near North Side and Downtown and Bradley University and Renaissance Park. Give me the poor and the broken. Give me the prostitutes and the johns, the crack addicts and the drug dealers, the abused children and their abusers, the poor and the rich. Give me the broken of our city, the discarded detritus of our society, and build from them a temple for Your name.

And with it, Lord, give me an open and willing heart. Give me the love and compassion to reach out once again to the hurting who lash out. Give me the hospitality to open my home to the dirty and inconvenient. Give me the willingness to sacrifice my comfort, my sanity, and my privacy for the sake of those you send my way. Make me the kind of man that I need to be to carry out this mission.

Lord, I walk the streets and alleys of my city, and I see a people who desperately need You. Do not be far off.

Give me Peoria, Lord, or I die.

I just finished reading Dennis Lehane’s A Drink Before the War, the first book in his Kenzie/Gennaro detective series. As a point of reference, Book Four is Gone Baby Gone, which was recently made into an outstanding film. (I discuss the film with spoilers here.)

This is an unformed thought, but here goes.

So, this book is part of a stream of crime fiction that I’m finding I really appreciate. To wit, it’s social critique in fiction form. The Wire would be another example of this. (Fun fact: Dennis Lehane wrote several episodes of The Wire.) Specifically, it’s a form of crime fiction dealing with issues that counselors and social workers would have to address. In many ways, it seems comparable to the Spy vs. Guy espionage fiction written by John le Carré and others, as both are actually about addressing social and political ills through genre fiction.

And all this makes me think about an aptitude test that I took way back in high school. This was one of those tests that you take to help you figure out what you want to be when you grow up. At the time, I knew what I was going to be: a computer programmer. Duh.

So, imagine my surprise when “social work” came back at the top of my list.

That’s stuck with me over the years.

But, as I’ve gotten older, it has started to make more sense. That’s really where my heart is: with hurting, violated, abused people who need to be rescued from their sins. Hurting people who hurt people. That’s how I see my calling.

So I guess that my interacting with crime fiction makes sense. It’s preparation to interact with the people that I really want to help. Maybe that’s why it feels so much like coming home.

Hooray! Peoria made the national news!

Illinois Police Pepper Spray Crowd Mourning 4-Month-Old Baby

Honestly, this looks like a mild rewrite of an article from our very own Peoria Journal-Star.

Baby found dead in Peoria home; police fire pepper balls on crowd

Sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it?

Now, one of my co-workers is a member of the Tazewell County Auxiliary Police, and when this story was passed around the office, he was a bit put out. He pointed out that it is the job of the coroner to take the body of the deceased. It’s also the job of the police to secure a crime scene. For the record, an area where an infant died suddenly counts as a crime scene. Finally, he noted that it is normal procedure to give multiple warnings before using pepper spray.

Here’s an excerpt from the Journal-Star story:

“A bunch of family and friends came and were refusing to let the officers out with the baby,” said Lt. Marshall Dunnigan. “We had to use great force to get the coroner out with the baby.”

So, hang on a sec. There was a crowd of people attempting to interfere with the police doing their proper duty, and so the police eventually responded to protect the coroner and enforce the law? Why is this a problem?

But even the Journal-Star story sounds like the police overreacted, not to mention the Associated Press story that Fox News ran.

Another co-worker put his finger on this issue:

The problem lies in the use of the word “mourners.” That automatically puts the police in a bad light, implying they used force on people who were in emotional distress. It was a crowd gathered at the house that threatened to turn into a mob by interfering with police. Mourners are usually found at funerals, visitations, grave sites, etc., not congregating at a possible crime scene. It shows us how one eight-letter word can skew the perception of an event.

(Emphasis mine.)

And that’s it right there. Let me reword the lead sentence of that news article by making a slight adjustment:

Police officers fired pepper balls into a group of mourners mob gathering at the house of a 4-month-old girl who died in her South Peoria home Wednesday.

Makes a big difference, doesn’t it?

Or, as an alternate example, check out how I tweak this headline:

Officers use pepper balls to break up mob of about 100 people fire pepper balls at group of children

Use of force by the police always draws a lot of scrutiny, and that is certainly a good thing. I’m fairly confident that the entire situation will be reviewed and investigated as necessary internally; moreover, it’s good for the police to be accountable to the public at large. At the same time, we all need to be careful of the opinions that we form as a result of our interactions with the media. Just a single word or phrase can change all our opinions and reactions.

Learn to read between the lines.

First, check out this video of David Simon, creator of The Wire, talking about Baltimore. Here’s a salient quote:

“Some of the smallest, gentlest moments I’ve ever experienced have been being a bystander to how people relate to this city and to each other as Baltimoreans. The trick is to tell the stories [on the Wire] with enough insider affection and insider angst and insider worry and insider anger that other Baltimoreans recognize that it [The Wire] is something of a love letter. It’s from a conflicted and often frustrated lover, but it’s nonetheless a love letter.”

Replace “Baltimoreans” with whoever you live with. Yeah, that’s how I think Dirty Secrets ought to be played.

As I worked on designing Dirty Secrets, I found myself developing this same affection for Peoria. Yeah, I learned all kinds of badness about my city, and I’m still learning more. But, at the same time, it’s my city…the place that I love. This same sense drives my political critiques and all that. I love where I live, warts and all.

So I hope that some of the players of Dirty Secrets would develop a similar feeling about where they live. I guess we will see.

The U.S Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that nearly 65 percent of federal prison’s population is comprised of low- and medium-security inmates and most of the federal prison system’s prisoners–nearly 54 percent–are drug offenders.

–Lofland, Lee Police Procedure & Investigation, p. 279

Since I’ve started talking about our recent spate of murders, I figured that I’d toss another thought out.

I’ve been tracking the Jessica Wesson reports via the Peoria Journal-Star website and putting associated links on my Peoria 2008 murder map. So I noticed something that I want to point out.

First, a couple of quotes from this article:

John Meisinger, who retired in May as Richwoods High School principal, said he was sick with sorrow upon hearing news of Wesson’s death.

“She was such a fun-loving girl,” said Meisinger, who described Wesson as a big personality, who was quick to give a hug and was genuinely interested in people’s lives. “You see so much potential in these kids. It hits you like a pit in the stomach.”

Though small in stature, Meisinger said Wesson was one who wouldn’t stand for something she didn’t believe in.

“She was feisty, too,” he said of the woman. “She spoke out and spoke the truth. It’s just too sad it had to end this way.”

“It scares me to death,” said Jennifer Ryans, a mother of two teenage girls, 17 and 13, as she stood in her front yard on Westminster Avenue, across the street from the school, as she watched officers crowd around the body. “It makes me scared for my girls.”

And again, from this article:

At a vigil for Jessica Wesson behind Sterling Middle School, the same place where the 18-year-old’s body was found Wednesday morning, more than 100 adults locked hands and created a circle around several dozen children.

It was a symbolic embrace of the community’s youth, which speakers at the vigil said are too often left without love and supervision.

….

When the adults were told to look away from the children and into the Central Peoria community, it was a show of guardianship.

Carl Cannon, a former prison guard who led the vigil with his commanding voice, told the adults to repeat his words, to shout them into the neighborhood.

“Criminals, can you hear us now?” the adults repeated.

“Enough, enough, enough,” said the voices in unison, rising with each syllable.

What’s the picture that’s being painted here? A sweet girl, struggling with her past yet a vibrant part of her community, is struck down by a Criminal. You know, those Evil People who lurk in our cities. People? Nay, Monsters! They roam the streets at night, seeking to catch those who wander from the safe zones.

But now, look at the quotes from this article:

Jessica Wesson was seen hours before her death last week getting into a car with her alleged assailant, with whom she had an “unconventional relationship,” said Kevin Lyons, Peoria County state’s attorney.

…

Lyons said authorities learned of the relationship through friends. There had been no violent episodes between the two reported to police, but the prosecutor said Wesson’s friends confirmed that aspect.

“She was a young lady who may not have had the skills to resist (Coffey),” Lyons said, noting the larger man was trying to force the smaller Wesson into a lifestyle that “wasn’t a good one.” He didn’t elaborate.

Police have said Wesson was employed at Fantasyland, though a person who answered the phone at the adult entertainment club declined to comment.

(Emphasis mine)

And from the previous article about the vigil:

Wesson, who lived much of her life as a foster child and reportedly suffered sexual and emotional abuse, was left drifting at times. She told friends she didn’t feel loved in her latest foster home, those friends said.

(Again, emphasis mine)

This doesn’t sound like a sweet, innocent girl who was suddenly struck down by a Criminal without warning.

We saw this same process with Mary Finnegan. Initial reports painted her as a nice woman, quiet, and a good neighbor. But, as the story unfolded, other facts came to the surface, including a four-year consensual sexual relationship with the son that is accused of murdering her.

Again, it’s not exactly like a Criminal struck from the shadows there either.

To be fair, some of these more lurid details are coming from the State Attorney’s office. Government officials have been known to be wrong before, and certainly these allegations have not been proven in open court. But, if Kevin Lyons is even close to the truth, the point remains.

No one deserves to be murdered. In the case of both of these women, their murderers should be tried and, if convicted, executed. That is the proper penalty for one who takes a life.

And yet, I think that it’s important to break the myth of the Evil Criminals, roaming our streets like vampires, attacking random passers-by. Usually, murder victims are killed by people that they knew. In the cases of Wesson and Finnegan, they made themselves vulnerable to attack by the bad choices they made. It wasn’t because they just happened to live in a “bad neighborhood” or were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Why am I saying this? Seems dangerously close to speaking ill of the dead, doesn’t it?

I’m saying this because many people live in fear of crime while completely missing the underlying causes. So, let’s not sugarcoat the truth in these cases. Instead, let us learn from these horrible acts and do what we can do to prevent them in the future.

And what would that look like?

Here’s one angle. Did you notice that both of these murder cases have parental failure at their core? Oddly enough, it would seem that the Sunday vigil had a good point:

Community leaders called on parents and neighbors Sunday night to reign in, protect and show love to children who, if left alone, risk being lost to crime.

Okay, I just went through the last month of violent crime reports from the Peoria Journal-Star and put them on Google Maps.

Peoria Violent Crimes 2008

And, as mentioned before, here are the murders for the year:

Peoria murders 2008

And, as a bonus, here are those two maps overlaid!

Peoria Crimes 2008

If I’m feeling particularly ambitious, I may do the non-violent thefts on a separate map. If you’re interested in helping put in the older stories, let me know, and I’ll get you set up.

No, I’m not doing drug crimes (e.g. possession and dealing). First, I’m opposed to drug prohibition, so I don’t really feel like putting the effort into reporting it. Second, it’s hard to tie a drug crime to a particular place, at least from the sorts of reports that I currently have access to. Third, the point of these maps is to try to chart some sense of the danger that crime presents to people in various areas of the city. Possession and dealing simply don’t present a threat of bodily harm to those nearby.

Actually, that leads into a good point about these crimes. “Random crime” often isn’t. If you look into the news stories, you’ll see that many of these crimes were perpetrated on victims known to the perpetrator. Even in crime, it seems that it’s all about who you know.

I’ve been reading The Great Neighborhood Book recently. One of the points it made is that “rough” areas of town aren’t necessarily less safe than “nice” areas of town. Instead, it is often a matter of reputation, not reality.

With that in mind, I’d like to offer this map: Peoria Murders 2008

Notice that two of the three reported murders occurred north of War Memorial Drive. You know, in the “nice” areas of town. Also, notice that none of the three reported murders on the South Side.

(Why am I emphasizing the reported murders? Well, there is that little place on the north end of town, where nearly 800 citizens were murdered this year. But no one really wants to talk about that.)

Yes, there’s more to safety than just the murder rate. I’ve taken to watching the papers, and I know that there’s a lot of violence reported on the South Side.

Yes, this is just for 2008. If I’m so moved, I might try to root around in the Journal-Star’s site and see if I can find the locations of the 2007 murders.

Nonetheless, I think that this is somewhat significant for the core neighborhoods to note, especially in the Heart of Peoria and on the South Side, as we try to address the city’s perception of where we live.

Murder #3 for the year.

Well, except for these murders, of course, which are kept off the stat sheets.

Maybe we weren’t doing as well as I thought.

So, yeah, I wrote Dirty Secrets, a detective noir game. And that meant that I read a lot of the source material. So, trust me when I say that this sounds like something that I would have expected to find in the pages of a Ross MacDonald novel:

Rolling Acres woman’s death remains mystery

Police are releasing few details regarding the homicide investigation of a Rolling Acres woman found dead in her home Friday morning, to the dismay of worried neighbors….”She was a quiet woman,” Lowe said Saturday afternoon. “But she was the most wonderful person you would ever meet.”

Lowe met her neighbor when she moved in five years ago and said Finnegan would always check up on her and see if she needed help around the house.

Lowe returned the favor, recently watering the woman’s flowers while she was out of town. She said she’d planned to have dinner with Finnegan the night she was found dead.

“When I found out she was killed, I was so confused,” she said. “I can’t understand, why would someone kill her?”

Son arrested in Rolling Acres death

Police have arrested the son of a woman who was found strangled to death in her Rolling Acres home Friday morning.

Stark County deputies found John W. Finnegan, 20, sleeping in his mother’s car at a rest stop in Toulon early Sunday. He was detained in Stark County until Peoria police picked him up for questioning.

He was later booked into the Peoria County Jail on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of his mother, Mary T. Finnegan, 43, with whom he lived at 5513 Merrimac Ave.

Bond set for Peoria man accused of killing his mother

Bond was set at $2.5 million Monday for a Peoria man accused of strangling his mother last week.

The death occurred sometime Thursday, when John Finnegan, 20, entered his mother’s room, found her sleeping and “swiftly killed her emotionlessly,” Peoria County State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons said in court, repeating what Finnegan reportedly told detectives.

Mary Finnegan, 43, was found dead around noon Friday, when her other son, 23, stopped by her house and found her naked and wrapped in bedding.

During a five-minute bond hearing in Peoria County Circuit Court, Lyons said the situation had “peculiar” overtones. He cited a “consensual but inappropriate” sexual relationship that had existed between John and Mary Finnegan for about four years. John Finnegan said he and his mother had sex the day before he allegedly killed her.

Finnegan initially denied killing his mother but later told police he felt like he was “bottled up with rage.” He also told detectives he sexually assaulted his mother’s body and then tried to kill himself.

Lyons said Finnegan first tried to drown himself in the bathtub before trying to overdose on various household medications and pills. When that didn’t work, he grabbed some money and left the house in his mother’s car.

He was arrested about 1 a.m. Sunday by Stark County sheriff’s deputies, who found him sleeping in the car. He was then brought back to Peoria.