Reason First: Why are People Still Getting Shot in Wilmington, Delaware?

As the death toll rises in America to surpass China due to the novel coronavirus, there remain shooters out in these Wilmington, Delaware streets. For what? Little details surface regarding the actual incidents. News reporters just say the age and gender of the victim or survivor and when and where they received rounds to the body among other details. Rarely is the discussion of a reason why the person was shot or any leads on who perpetrated the shooting. In Wilmington, Delaware, the news of someone getting shot has become such a normalcy that when world changing events like the spread of COVID-19 hit, it becomes just another section of the daily journal.

But why is this happening? Why were there people outside of their residences long enough to shoot and be shot? With every news broadcast focused on the virus, it is important to keep in mind the shootings that still occur. And the reports show little help in the way of showcasing law enforcement trying to nab these miscreants.

In order for citizens to fully hone in on top news stories like the virus, somebody has to start snitching. In each report, the journalist leaves a way for people to contact the cops. Fear of retribution is usually at the top of the list for why people don’t pick up and dial. The menaces in the streets continue their rampage because more often than not, people will be too scared to tell on these brutes.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. There exist the proper channels where tipsters can safely call the police and not risk their life or their family’s lives because they want to clean up the streets. As young people, mainly males, continue to go to the hospital over bullet wounds, there will continue to be a phalanx of citizens ready (but not willing) to describe crimes where the start of force was present. Each person who knows something but never says anything is an affront to rationality. The moral imperative to snitch on a criminal or criminals ought to drive people to snitch. Incentives like money have enticed people to speak.

In conditions where the world seems bleak and the world around these individuals seems even darker, it should be said that these shootings don’t have to happen. Killings don’t have to happen. The healing process starts with someone who taps 911 in their phone and calls officers of the law. Someone, somewhere, knows something. So, for young people to be gunned down in the street like a wild cheetah that’s set loose and has maimed or killed someone, there is a case to be made for talking. Just a few words to the right people can mean a world of difference to the family and friends of those who have been shot. To see that no more lives are affected by gun violence or the start of force by way of a firearm, it is up to rational, selfish individuals to safeguard their neighborhoods. Now, this doesn’t mean being a caped crusader or vigilante in the Wilmington area. Instead, someone can turn into a hero by simply chattering about what they heard, saw, and know. Snitching ought to be as prevalent and relevant as these rappers and moviemakers make out crime life to be so grand. Snitching ought to be its own language replete with its own vocabulary and dialects. For folks to live in peace, it is up to the individual to care enough about themselves and their own well-being to snitch. So that we have a safer city, state, nation and world, the itch to snitch must always be scratched.