Vigilance can chase Terrorism down the streets and out of the neighborhood.
        But it can take a while.
        Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly attributes the reduction of crime in New York City to ten years of Vigilance.  The result--in terms of crimes per 100,000 population, New York City (population 8,023,018) ranked 197th of 216 cities with populations of at least 100,000.   The Big Apple sits squarely between Provo (pop. 106,891) and Rancho Cucamonga (pop. 116,000).
        For a city the size of New York to undertake a Plan of Vigilance resulting in shifting its violence and Terrorism into the lowest gear possible is indeed a tribute to the Parents of Vigilance who want their children protected.   There was a time in New York City history when parents needed armed guards to keep their children safe going to and from school, and a squad of Special Forces Rangers to help them walk down the sidewalks without being mugged.   But times change when the Big Stick of Vigilance is wielded.

       New York City Police Commissioner Kelly isn't being seduced by the low numbers.   He's keeping a Vigilant Eye on them, and striving to lower them further.   "You can never rest and accept a number as a floor," he said in reference to the statistics released by the F.B.I. that showed New York's overall crime rate is the lowest among the 25 largest cities in the country.  "You have to do everything you can, with the resources you have available, to continue to drive it down."

      In my book, that's the Eye of Vigilance driving the Hand of Vigilance.  Keeping an eye on the future of the children's children's children keeps the Beast of Terror at bay.
       The F.B.I. report noted that murder, often considered the bellwether of crime, is at an all-time low for New York City.  The Big Apple  is now ranked 107th among the largest American cities, with 270 murders, or a rate of 3.4 murders per 100,000 people.  New Orleans, ranked second highest in the nation, has 114 murders or 23.5 per 100,000, the report noted.  Spokane, Washington is ranked 81st, with 9 murders or 4.5 per 100,000.
       New York's police force of 38,000 has something to do with the lowering crime rate.   Over the past decade a sweeping effort was made starting with Mayor Rudy Giuliani to make the streets safe.   It started out with little things like riding the streets to prevent  people attacking windshields with dirty rags, and washing them whether drivers wanted them to or not.   Drivers in those days were Terrorized and gave a buck just to not have their windows smashed. 
       Forty-Second Street was cleaned up, and where the armpit of humanity was once nationally headquartered, Mayor Rudy drove out the crime and replaced the bad seeds with Walt Disney stores and a fresh new safe environment that doesn't require armed guards to make it safely from a cab to a theater.
       Commissioner Kelly has prodded the momentum.   He bulldogs the principles of keeping drugs and guns off the streets, and herding the most recidivist criminals to jail without stopping Go or collecting $200.
       Nine Eleven has helped boost the awareness of law enforcement in New York City, and reminded the criminal element of the public's support behind the "men and women in blue."
       Terrorism, fed by Fear, Intimidation and Complacency, often spikes when public confidence in its Sentinels of Vigilance drop.   The more society enjoins Complacency, the wider the door swings open to the Beast of Terror, and all his children.   The more Vigilant it evolves, the harder the door closes.
        Whether New York City can maintain its low crime in the face of severe budget cuts and a rocky economy is up for grabs, but Police Commissioner Kelly is optimistic.   "We just keep the pressure on," he said, "and eye on the target."

         Terrorism is all about keeping an Eye of Vigilance on the target.  Whether the crime is murder, rape, drug abuse or child abuse, a society of Vigilant people can form a Circle of Vigilance that makes it hard for the "bad guy" to break.
          I wish the F.B.I. kept Emotional Terrorism statistics as diligently as they do Physical Terrorism data.   I wonder how many children in New York City are going to bed at night not worried about whether their parents are arguing and fighting, or worrying about whether they are loved?
         How many citizens of New York look in the mirror these days and instead of seeing a "loser," or a "victim of circumstances" that make them "less than others" in their own eyes, are standing prouder these days?  I wonder how many of them are calling on the Sentinels of Vigilance to bolster their self-image that they are equal to rather than less than the other person who appears to have "more than they," or were "luckier than they" in their lot in life?
         Emotional Terrorism is a far more insidious crime against humanity than murder, rape, burglary or drugs.   Emotional Terrorism robs a person of his or her self worth and tends to create anger and resentments that are taken out on children and society.

        A parent who snaps at a child:  "Don't bother me," or grabs the child violently and threatens it, isn't much different than a mugger sticking a gun in someone's face and threatening them with violence if they don't cough up the wallet and watch.  
        The Big Apple has 1.1 million school children.   I wonder how many parents give their kids a big fat hug in the morning and wish them a great day, and when they return from school they are met by the parents or guardian and given "quality time" about their day, asked what they learned, and reminded that the parent is as concerned about the child's life as the child is.

        Complacency in parenting leads to Terrorism in the child.   When parents take their eye off the Bulls Eye of Vigilance, the child ends up cowering in the corner, fearful it isn't loved or cared for, and becomes ripe for the Beast of Terror's claws to sink into its vulnerable soul.
         I hope the Vigilance Statistics would run parallel with the crime reduction ones.   Hopefully, the drop in crime is a result of parents teaching children that they are loved and cared for, and the respect for them is exampled by providing a world much safer than it was before--both physically and emotionally.