Gang Violence Case Study free essay sample

In a city where gang violence wreaks havoc and calamity occurs often, one neighborhood has the fortunate ability to end gang violence all together. By making the decision to close down a single house among many, the city of Sunnyside, WA along with its police department, have (Courtney)achieved their duty as Act Utilitarian’s. Their actions resulted in substantial consequences that have been shown to maximize the greater good of the entire community. The issue of gang violence has disrupted the city of Sunnyside for a long period of time. Especially that of one gang house, 808 W. Edison Ave; a house that has historically disrupted what is otherwise considered a calm neighborhood. In the tranquil canal bank neighborhood, the greatest number of people, the residents of other houses within the community, are being negatively affected by the actions of members in one home. According to one of the tenets of Utilitarianism, each person’s happiness is equally weighed. The acts of weapon-related violence that initiate from one home in a neighborhood do not benefit the greater good of all of the homes. Thus leading the community to take actions to achieve greater pleasure for the greater good. To solve the issue of being unsafe in the community, the city along with support from the police, fought to include the house (considered to be outside of city limits) in an already planned annexation of the area around the home. According to comments from not only the police but also members from within the community, fellow neighbors and citizens within the area experience both the sensations of safety and danger. They have experienced the feelings and pleasures of safety within their own homes and have also had these feelings taken away by the crimes committed by their neighbor. According to British philosopher, John Stuart Mills, one pleasure is more valuable than the other, â€Å"if there [is] one to which all or almost all who have experience of both give a decided preference, irrespective of any feeling or moral obligation to prefer it, that is the more desirable pleasure† (Mill, 95). In this particular case we argue that people in the community experience both danger and safety. Safety, being higher in desirable pleasure by those competently acquainted with both, is therefore of superior quality. In order to maximize safety, the superior quality, the city had to gain jurisdiction of the property from the county. While the Yakima County Law enforcement had tried to maximize safety within the gang affiliated home as well as the surrounding community, County laws and regulations, being laxer than the cities, made it difficult to see any hope for improvement. However, after gaining jurisdiction of not only the West Edison home but also the surrounding Monson feedlot, the city was able to strictly enforce city law and code regulations. The process of maximizing safety began from within the home and moved outward toward the community. The process began when law enforcement interrupted yet another drive-by shooting at the house which at the time had children inside. The endangering of the inhabitants of the home as well as the other residents of the neighborhood was enough cause for the issuing of search warrants. During the exercising of one of these warrants, Sunnyside law enforcement brought along code enforcement officers to inspect the safety of the home. The inspectors found several structural problems including, â€Å"broken rafters, sloping floors, cracked ceilings and a total of 21 bullet holes that could affect wiring† (Courtney). The deficiencies were enough to justify a substandard declaration of the home. Thus the house was deemed uninhabitable and residents were temporarily evicted with the consequence of full eviction if repairs were not made within thirty days. During the thirty days of temporary evictions, Sunnyside public works crews lined West Edison and Northwest Crescent road with concrete barriers to prevent through traffic as well as quick getaways by drive-bys. While the residents of the homes in the area (the greater good) are relieved that the violence stricken home is empty, not all are in favor of the roadblocks. Take for example resident Wallace Anderson Sr. , a neighbor and father of Sunnyside’s former police chief, who believes if someone wants to commit a crime â€Å"he’ll just get in another way† (Courtney). His ability to drive up and down the road was forfeited by the roadblocks and he personally enjoys â€Å"[having] a road going both ways† (Courtney). While it is an inconvenience to Mr. Anderson to not be able to drive both ways on the road, it is a larger benefit to his safety to take measures that make drive-bys and their dangerous consequences less likely. When examining the actions of the Sunnyside law enforcement, through the lens of Act Utilitarianism, we see that the officers were justified in their actions of annexing and evicting the residents of 808 W. Edison Ave. While there are various inconveniences attached to both eviction and dead end streets, the residents of the West Edison home and surrounding homes ultimately benefitted from the both set backs. The residents of the West Edison home had to move, but are likely living in a safer home with better structural measures than their previous home. While all members of the community are no longer able to drive up and down the street, the consequence, being an increase in their safety, ultimately is of greater desired pleasure and therefore of superior quality. In conclusion we see that the safety of all members of a given community justify the process (along with the inconveniences) to obtain a given end.