Even though statistics say crime is down, most people know that inner city violence, especially among youths is still a serious problem. What I don't get is that city officials and peace officers from my area at least really don't seem to get it.

I live in a suburb far north of Dallas TX, it's a peaceful area but I commute to work to Garland and north Dallas which is more urban. I work for a large consumer corporation like Nabisco, Pepsico, Hershey's, etc. I'm just using that as an example.

I've had to drive through Dallas due to a route change and on more than one occasion I've seen young teens basically just beating the shit out of each other on the side of the street. This particular area that I drive through which is a street between apartment complexes and school bus stops is an area that I've warned Dallas Police and the local news that is a hot spot for violence that needs to be dealt with.

All I asked for was the DPD to post a squad car to deter violence at the area so that after youths dispersed from the bus they would eventually go their separate ways home. Thus deferring a mob type violent incident.

Shit, the first time I saw it. There was what looked like a young mexican male laying on his back getting beaten with other kids yelling on cheering...

I think your problem is assuming that power structures give a shit about poor people.

"To Protect and Serve" is the motto of a lot of police departments. Sadly, it's a lot easier for the system to "treat" the problem (however ineffectual that may be) than to prevent it. A lot of violent crimes and such can be prevented if the things that led up to it were addressed before hand.

That said though, even though sometimes it's stuff that the police probably know about (like disputes that could turn violent one day), most of the time it's stuff that society in general has failed to care about. I'm not saying the youths aren't to blame, but crimes like these usually have multiple facets to them.