Pulling a Patch Post: The Reasons Why I Did

Wednesday night, I did something I'd normally not do; I pulled a Patch article called Map: What Are the Richest Parts of Town?

Four readers asked me to re-consider the post's value in light of recent crime in Manhattan Beach. So, I did. And I pulled it.

I pulled the post not because I think publishing such information isn't legitimate or interesting; I did it because Manhattan Beach Patch is here to serve our community and I don't think the post serves us at this moment in time.

But I don't think the post would have sent criminals racing to Manhattan Beach; we already have them venturing into our city, perhaps due to geography (we border Lawndale and Hawthorne, and Rosecrans Avenue is known as the "thoroughfare of felons" as an El Segundo police officer told me in the late 1980s), perhaps due to early release and a jammed prison system.

In fact, maybe some of you won't like that I pulled the post because I've just decreased the chances that the crooks would've shifted from your neighborhood to the wealthier Manhattan Beach hoods shown in the map.

One of the insights I gained from the emails about the post, as well as the Facebook posts Wednesday afternoon when police were chasing a man wanted on an outstanding felony weapons warrant as he climbed through our backyards and onto a roof, is the level of fear present in us.

We're not used to helicopters circling overhead and SWAT, police officers and K9 teams securing neighborhoods, putting them on lockdown to search for a suspect.

And, if there is a helicopter overhead and a neighborhood locked down for a search with K9s maybe it's over there, in that part of Manhattan Beach, closer to the border.

I have to say that other area Patch sites had the same post. I spoke with the Malibu Patch editor who said she'd had zero complaints on Map: What Are the Richest Parts of Town? 

And for me, as the Venice-Mar Vista Patch editor, I've had zero complaints for the post that appeared on that site: Map: What Are the Richest Parts of Town?

So, I'm not sure what's going on in Manhattan Beach. Certainly, I've caved to the vocal four who wrote me.

But I don't want anyone to live in fear, and that's much of what the feeling is in Manhattan Beach. There are those who live in fear.

Yes, we had a spike of residential burglaries in August, with irreplaceable gifts and heirlooms stolen, and two people tied up in their home as the robbers ransacked it, pistol whipping one of the residents. That's horrendous!

And we've had three 14-year-old boys robbed by gun in daylight on city streets of their cell phones, being told to walk back the way they came, not knowing if the gunman would shoot them as they turned their backs to heed his instructions.

We've also had people knocking on doors, scouting out potential homes to burglarize. They've even walked down the sides of homes and into backyards during their "canvassing" efforts. 

But is there a direct relationship between being wealthy and being the victim of a crime? Does a map that shows general areas and a correlating wealth translate into criminals searching out the wealthiest area to now focus on it for their criminal endeavors? Have the rich not heard of alarm systems, gates, cameras and the like? Maybe they should hire personal security.

I am exaggerating, but all in all I think I'd rather live in Manhattan Beach, earn what I earn, have what I have and try to live a worthwhile life. I'd also like to help others, collaborate, serve, inform, share and connect the people in the world in a way that betters us all.

So, how much crime is there in Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Santa Monica, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach or Hermosa Beach?

I'd say each community is different, with a variety of factors that include ease of access, its residential make-up (Could a rehab or recovery home make a community more crime prone? Could a family member trying to help a relative released from prison put your block more at risk?), and on and on.

I'm not sure I did the right thing by pulling the article. I certainly don't want fear or privilege or lack of information to guide us. But I don't want people in my community living in fear when that needn't be the case.

So, for fear's sake, I pulled the post because I want to serve my community, not make it even more fearful, even if misguidedly so, than it already is.

I'd like to hear your thoughts. Share them with all of us in the comments below.