Magical Thinking

Newark, NJ is desperate to somehow change its image as a city rife with crime and to do so, they’re banning…barbed wire?

Some business owners in this crime-plagued city say recent enforcement of a decades-old ordinance prohibiting 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 outright 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.

Gee, ya think?

Also blogging on this: The Brothers Judd and Ace of Spades.