This week, it was announced that residents of Black Hawk County can now text their requests for fire, police, or ambulance, to the 911 emergency call center in Black Hawk County, Iowa. This is being hailed as both a nationwide first and a definite improvement for deaf and hard-of-hearing residents who have thus far had to rely on TDD devices. Readers should not that, unlike voice calls, however, the 911 operator can’t get your location from a text message, meaning that the caller must first respond to a request for their city or zip code before the call gets routed.

Currently, only T-Mobile subscribers can use the service, but plans are to bring other carriers on board quickly. Other future upgrades include the ability to accept video and picture messages. All the operators ask is that you refrain from sending them those silly chain text messages — that sort of thing can be really distracting when you’re busy saving lives.

What I’m asking is if a small county like Black Hawk (Waterloo) can do this, why would the most populous county, Polk County (Des Moines) not be all over this setting a new standard not only in Iowa, but for the US. At least hopefully those in charge here in the Des Moines area will catch up soon.

Posted under Living Downtown
Tags: Crime | Public Services | Twitter

Saturday morning I’m at Jethro’s with a couple of friends, we are having brunch and waiting for the big Iowa vs. Iowa State game to start. I pull out my iPhone and decide to check the news to see what’s happening in the world. Low and behold I find out that a hate crime took place the night before. I read the article a couple of times, because since I moved to Des Moines a little over five years ago, I’ve always thought Des Moines to be a pretty progressive community and it never occurred to me that something like this could happen in my own neighborhood.

According to reports from the Des Moines police department, a local teen was arrested in connection with a hate crime Friday night (September 12, 2008) after he allegedly threw bricks at some men near The Blazing Saddle, an East Village gay bar, and called them anti-homosexual names.

Sander “Sam” O’Dale Johnson, 18, of 912 24th St. in Des Moines, was arrested for assault with a hate crime and violation of individual rights, records show. Reports state that the Des Moines Police also suspect Johnson and his friends may have been involved with a similar hate crime on Sept. 6 that also happened near the Blazing Saddle.

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Posted under Living Downtown
Tags: Crime | Neighbors

A factor in a lot of people’s decision to move somewhere is the crime rate. So I thought I would set out and try to do some research and find out what’s Des Moines’ crime rate compared to some other mid-western cities and what crimes are happening here in the local area.

I moved to the Des Moines area from Fort Lauderdale, Florida back in May of 2003. Based on feelings alone I think Des Moines has a pretty low crime rate, I mean you hear about a shooting now and then on TV, but those almost always come from the East Side or South Side of Des Moines. At least that’s my perception. Currently, Des Moines has about 360 police officers on the force.

A recent report on WHO-TV though says that ‘s been a violent year so far in the Des Moines metro area. Accordingly, the metro area has seen more homicides in the first seven months of 2008 than it did overall in 2007. Last year, eight people were murdered in Des Moines. So far this year, nine people have been the victims of homicide. The Des Moines Police Department has stated that since 2005, every one of Des Moines’ murder cases has been solved and that the vast majority of murder cases are not random acts. Officials say overall, from burglaries to graffiti, it’s been a busy summer.

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Posted under Living Downtown
Tags: Crime | Maps