Tuesday, January 6, 2009

I used to live in New Jersey, and you know what, it kind of sucks

And now there's this:

NEWARK, N.J. - Some business owners in this crime-plagued city say recent
enforcement of a 1966 ordinance banning some types of barbed wire and razor wire is making Newark more attractive - to thieves.

Burglaries are up 17 percent from 2007 through
November in Newark, which has a young, charismatic mayor who has vowed to help
the city rebound from decades of official inaction, incompetence and
criminality.The city is aggressively courting new investment and
development, but people who have been ordered to downgrade their fences say
officials are worried more about aesthetics than security.

John DeSantis, owner of a lot used by an auto-repair business in Newark's West Ward, says his property has been the site of more than a dozen burglaries
since the summer, when the city forced him to remove razor wire
on top
of the 7-foot-tall fence that surrounds the lot.

(bolding mine) But at least theives won't get hurt!

DeSantis said he was surprised when a city official told him that the ordinance was being enforced to prevent passers-by or anyone climbing the fence from being injured by the barbed wire.


Umm, last I checked, the only way that a "passer by" can get injured on barbed wire is when that person tries to climb it, say, to go somewhere that person isn't allowed.

Quick quiz- Which political party has a deadlock hold on New Jersey?

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