| Crime rates (2008) (Population of 438,646) |
| Crime type |
Rate |
| Homicide |
10 |
| Forcible rape |
41 |
| Robbery |
216.4 |
| Aggravated assault |
336.3 |
| Violent crime |
603.7 |
| Burglary |
723.9 |
| Larceny-theft |
2939.4 |
| Motor vehicle theft |
621.3 |
| Property crime |
4284.5 |
Crime rates per 100,000 persons Source: FBI 2008 UCR data
- Compare with other cities?
The following table of United States cities by crime rate is based on Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports statistics. The population numbers are based on U.S. Census estimates for the year end. The number of murders includes nonnegligent manslaughter. This list is based on the...
|
Crime in Omaha, Nebraska has varied widely, ranging from the city's early years as a frontier town with typically widespread
gamblingGambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
and
prostitutionProstitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, to civic expectation of higher standards as the city grew, and contemporary concerns about violent crimes related to gangs and dysfunctions of persistent unemployment, poverty and lack of education among some residents.
As a
major industrial cityThe economy of Omaha, Nebraska has served as a major commercial hub in the Midwestern United States since its founding in 1854. Dubbed the "Motor Mouth City" by The New York Times, Omaha is widely regarded as the telecommunications capital of the United States. The city's economy includes...
into the mid-20th century, Omaha shared in social tensions of larger cities that accompanied rapid growth and many new immigrants and migrants. By mid-century Omaha was a center for illicit betting, while experiencing dramatic job losses and unemployment because of dramatic restructuring of the railroads and the meatpacking industry, as well as other sectors. Persistent poverty resulting from discrimination and job loss generated different crimes in the late 20th century, with
drug tradeThe illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
and
drug abuseSubstance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
becoming associated with violent crime rates, which climbed after 1986 as Los Angeles gangs made affiliates in the city. With the nationally famous kidnapping of
Edward Cudahy, Jr.Edward Aloysius Cudahy, Jr. , also known as Eddie Cudahy, was kidnapped on December 18, 1900 in Omaha, Nebraska. Edward Cudahy, Sr. was the wealthy owner of the Cudahy Packing Company, which helped build the Omaha Stockyards to world renown through the 1950s. The kidnapping caused a national uproar...
in 1900 and the subsequent acquittal of the accused kidnapper,
Pat CrowePat Crowe , aka Frank Roberts, was a criminal turned author and lecturer who was implicated in the 1900 kidnapping of Edward Cudahy, Jr. in Omaha. Crowe's criminal notoriety as a bank and train robber and as a kidnapper gained him fame across the United States when he began writing and speaking...
,
The Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
wrote, "Omaha is evidently a happy hunting ground for savages and malefactors."
Since the 1990s crime has been reduced for the city overall. According to crime statistics released by the FBI, Omaha's rate of
violent crimeA violent crime or crime of violence is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use violent force upon the victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act is the objective, such as murder, as well as crimes in which violence is the means to an end, such as robbery. Violent...
s per 100,000 residents has been lower than the average rates of three dozen cities of similar size. Omaha's rate of violent crime was 601.1 in 2005, compared to 995.6 for cities with populations from 250,000 to 500,000. Unlike Omaha, violent crime overall for those cities has trended upward since 2003. Rates for property crime have decreased for both Omaha and its peer cities during the same time period. In 2006 Omaha was ranked for homicides as 46th out of the 72
cities in the United StatesThe following table of United States cities by crime rate is based on Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports statistics. The population numbers are based on U.S. Census estimates for the year end. The number of murders includes nonnegligent manslaughter. This list is based on the...
of more than 250,000 in population, making it quite a safe city for most inhabitants.
19th century
Omaha had an early history as a "wide open town" where
prostitutionProstitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
,
gamblingGambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
,
drugsDestroy Rebuild Until God Shows are an American post-hardcore band formed in 2010. They released their debut self-titled album on February 22, 2011.- Formation :...
and
alcoholIn chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
were accepted. There were no official law enforcement officers until after the city was incorporated. On February 12, 1857, the city of Omaha was incorporated and in March J.A. Miller was appointed the City Marshall. In March 1866, the city council enlarged the police "force" to four men.
ProstitutionProstitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
was a brisk trade in early Omaha, and
sex workerA sex worker is a person who works in the sex industry. The term is usually used in reference to those in the sex industry that actually provide such sexual services, as opposed to management and staff of such industries...
s in the
Burnt DistrictThe Burnt District was the original red light district in Omaha, Nebraska in the late 19th century. The area was located east of Creighton University from Douglas Street six blocks north to Cass Street and from the Missouri River west to Sixteenth Street. It was the location of several notorious...
numbered 1,500 by the 1870s.
In 1868, the City Council created the position of "Police Judge" and appointed John H. Sahler. Later that year, the City Council directed members of the force to provide themselves with "dark blue, single breasted coats, shirts and pants of the same material. They were required to have caps with a brass plate in the front marked
City Police." Between 1869 and 1882 the size of the department fluctuated, reaching 14 officers in 1882. In 1884, Marshal Roger T. Guthrie was convicted and imprisoned for accepting a bribe.
Early years of land grabs by the
Omaha Claim ClubThe Omaha Claim Club, also called the Omaha Township Claim Association and the Omaha Land Company, was organized in 1854 for the purpose of "encouraging the building of a city" and protecting members' claims in the area platted for Omaha City in the Nebraska Territory. At its peak the club included...
were thwarted by the 1857 trial of
Baker v. MortonBaker v. Morton, , was the first "serious" court case to come out of Omaha, Nebraska Territory, prior to statehood. In the trial a claim jumper fought against local land barons to stake out a homestead in the area that was to become the city of Omaha...
, where the United States Supreme Court ruled that Omaha's land barons could not claim up large amounts of land in order to sell them at exorbitant costs. This stopped
homesteadingBroadly defined, homesteading is a lifestyle of simple self-sufficiency.-Current practice:The term may apply to anyone who follows the back-to-the-land movement by adopting a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle. While land is no longer freely available in most areas of the world, homesteading...
in the area. While the common practice ended, early land grabs were fruitful. Lots in one of the early plots were subdivided to form
ScriptownScriptown was the name of the first subdivision in the history of Omaha, which at the time was located in Nebraska Territory. It was called "Scriptown" because scrip was used as payment, similar to how a company would pay employees when regular money was unavailable...
, where Territorial legislators were awarded with land for keeping the controversial capital in Omaha.
Because of the lack of police force, in early years groups sometimes resorted to lynchings, as elements of the community enforced their own rough "justice". Victims were likely to be outsiders, transient workers or laborers who did not live in the city, whom no one knew. In the West and South, victims were lynched for alleged crimes of property as well as of violence. In 1891 there was the first recorded
lynchingLynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...
in Omaha of an African American. A mob lynched
George SmithJoe Coe, also known as George Smith, was an African-American laborer who was lynched on October 18, 1891 in Omaha, Nebraska. Overwhelmed by a mob of one thousand at the Douglas County Courthouse, the twelve city police officers stood by without intervening...
, a worker from Council Bluffs across the river. He had allegedly raped a white woman. No one was tried for Coe's murder.
At the turn of the century, Madam
Anna WilsonAnna Wilson was a pioneer madam in Omaha, Nebraska. When she died she bequeathed her life savings to the City of Omaha, along with her 25-room mansion brothel, which was used as a hospital...
ran a high-class brothel in the
Sporting DistrictThe Sporting District was an area near 16th and Harney Streets in Omaha, Nebraska where city boss Tom Dennison kept the majority of his gambling, drinking and prostitution interests from the late 19th century until the end of his reign in 1933...
, the
vice districtVice District is one of six districts of the province Sechura in Peru.-References:...
run by political boss Tom Dennison. During the
Trans-Mississippi ExpositionThe Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition was a world's fair held in Omaha, Nebraska from June 1 to November 1 of 1898. Its goal was to showcase the development of the entire West, stretching from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast. The Indian Congress was held concurrently...
of 1898, Ada Everleigh and her sister ran a high-class bordello to make a profit from the many visitors to the city. They closed their operation soon after the Expo and moved to the bigger environs of
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
Notable 19th century crimes in Omaha
There were several notable crimes in Omaha during its first 50 years. They included the murder of a federal clerk on November 4, 1881. After receiving several anonymous letters and postcards threatening his life because of his enforcement of the Slocumb Laws and state laws prohibiting Sunday liquor sales, Colonel W.B. Smith, Clerk of the United States Circuit and District Courts, was murdered in Omaha. On November 15, 1891, Nettie Birdler, a private in the
Salvation ArmyThe Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
, murdered Captain Haddie Smith during an international exposition of the Army's troops, with representatives from across the United States and France present. The motive of the murder went unknown, as Birdler committed suicide immediately after shooting Smith.
Joe CoeJoe Coe, also known as George Smith, was an African-American laborer who was lynched on October 18, 1891 in Omaha, Nebraska. Overwhelmed by a mob of one thousand at the Douglas County Courthouse, the twelve city police officers stood by without intervening...
, also known as George Smith, was a 50-year-old African-American railroad porter who was lynched by a mob on October 8, 1891. He was accused of raping a 14-year-old. Coe had an alibi and witnesses attesting to his innocence. Because he had been convicted of rape several years before in neighboring
Council BluffsCouncil Bluffs, known until 1852 as Kanesville, Iowathe historic starting point of the Mormon Trail and eventual northernmost anchor town of the other emigrant trailsis a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States and is on the east bank of the Missouri River across...
, the mob decided he was guilty of this event. A crowd of 10,000 gathered for the lynching. Seven men were arrested for the crime, including the chief of police and a major businessman; however, after a mob gathered outside of the jail and threatened to destroy it in order to "liberate" the suspects, each of them were freed, and nobody was ever brought to trial for the lynching.
On June 11, 1895, James Ish murdered a man named Chappele after finding him in an embrace and kissing his wife. After he initially corroborated his wife's story confessing she killed Chappele when he attempted to abduct her, Ish later recanted and admitted his own guilt, confident a jury would not find him guilty. In another affair of the heart, on November 18, 1888, Eliza Beechler, the wife of Harry W. King, Jr., a merchant from Chicago, followed him to Omaha's
Paxton HotelThe Paxton Hotel, formerly known as Paxton Manor and currently known as The Paxton, is located at 1403 Farnam Street in Downtown Omaha, Nebraska, USA. Designed by local architect Joseph G. McArthur, the current building was constructed in 1928, with its predecessor dating from 1882. Named for local...
where she suspected him of carrying on an affair. On her arrival he insisted she leave, and after escorting her to the hotel lobby she shot him several times, murdering him. It was later revealed that King had married three different women, including the one with whom he shared the room at the Paxton. The crime caused a sensation in Omaha, Chicago, where the King family was prominent at the time, and St. Louis, close to where the third wife was from.
On November 5, 1895, three men were held in suspicion of their involvement in the abduction and murder of an eleven-year-old girl. On April 14, 1899, Anton Inda, an Omaha policeman, is held for murder after an African American singer named J.A. Smith is murdered at the police station. Smith was killed when he was stabbed in the skull with a stilleto, and a witness was suspected to have been suppressed through intimidation.
In 1900 the city and country closely followed the kidnapping of 16-year-old Edward Cudahy Jr.. After the boy's father, a meatpacking magnate, paid
ransomRansom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
, Edward Cudahy, Jr. was safely returned. Police and officials in Omaha and other cities were concerned that the payment of ransom would set an unfortunate precedent for other cases. Although the kidnappers were caught several years later, both were acquitted, in part because Nebraska didn't have a statute relating directly to kidnapping. One of the kidnappers,
Pat CrowePat Crowe , aka Frank Roberts, was a criminal turned author and lecturer who was implicated in the 1900 kidnapping of Edward Cudahy, Jr. in Omaha. Crowe's criminal notoriety as a bank and train robber and as a kidnapper gained him fame across the United States when he began writing and speaking...
, became somewhat of a folk hero for this crime and robberies, even appearing as a speaker about them.
Tom Dennison's political machine
Early in the 1890s
Tom DennisonTom Dennison, aka Pickhandle, Old Grey Wolf, was the early-20th century political boss of Omaha, Nebraska. A politically savvy, culturally astute gambler, Dennison was in charge of the city's wide crime rings, including prostitution, gambling and bootlegging in the 1920s...
, a gambler and saloon-owner from Colorado and Montana, arrived in Omaha and established a base of political power. He took control of most of the vice elements in the city. For more than 25 years, Dennison's power was so great that he controlled crime in the city, the police reported to him daily, and a mayor answered directly to him. The Dennison political machine ended in 1935 after he died. During his reign, Dennison kept an office at the Budweiser Saloon in the
Sporting DistrictThe Sporting District was an area near 16th and Harney Streets in Omaha, Nebraska where city boss Tom Dennison kept the majority of his gambling, drinking and prostitution interests from the late 19th century until the end of his reign in 1933...
, where he looked after his interests.
20th century changes
On September 28, 1919, the Omaha Race Riot erupted, one of many race riots that occurred in cities that year, reflecting common postwar economic stress and social tensions. In Omaha, Tom Dennison fanned tensions through sensational news accounts to build his own political power. The immediate cause of the riot was the arrest of 41-year-old
Will BrownWill Brown may refer to:*Will Brown, central figure in the Omaha Race Riot of 1919*Will Brown , head men's basketball coach at the University at Albany*Will Brown , played for Qatar SC until 2009-See also:...
, an African-American Omaha citizen, on charges that he had raped a young white woman. The newspaper had contended a rash of attacks had occurred.
A mob of white men, led by volatile adolescents, gathered at the
Douglas County CourthouseThe present Douglas County Courthouse is located at 1701 Farnam Street in Omaha, Nebraska. Built in 1912, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Notable events at the courthouse include two lynchings and the city's first Civil Rights Era sit-in protest...
, their numbers growing by the hour. They threatened grabbing Brown as vigilantes. They lynched Omaha Mayor Edward Smith as he tried to prevent the mob from taking Brown. The mayor was rescued by Omaha Police, but they couldn't control the mob. The men set fire to the Courthouse while trying to flush out Brown and police officers trying to protect him and numerous other prisoners. They lynched Brown after he was turned over to them and then attacked other parts of the city. Utterly unable to control the situation, the city asked for help from the
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. By September 29, the Army had declared martial law, enforcing it with 1,700 soldiers from nearby
Fort OmahaFort Omaha, originally known as Sherman Barracks and then Omaha Barracks, is an Indian War-era United States Army supply installation. Located at 5730 North 30th Street, with the entrance at North 30th and Fort Streets in modern-day North Omaha, Nebraska, the facility is primarily occupied by ...
, Camp Funston (part of present day Fort Riley, Kansas) and Camp Dodge,
IowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
.
http://www.blackwallstreet.freeservers.com/red%20summer%20riots.htm/ No further loss of life occurred after Brown was lynched.
Historians attributed the
Omaha Race Riot of 1919The Omaha Race Riot occurred in Omaha, Nebraska, on September 28–29, 1919. The race riot resulted in the brutal lynching of Will Brown, a black worker; the death of two white men; the attempted hanging of the mayor Edward Parsons Smith; and a public rampage by thousands of whites who set fire to...
directly to Dennison's influence. After his candidate for mayor lost the election, Denison worked to gain control by some other means. Acting in collusion with the
Omaha Bee, a tabloid newspaper, Dennison heightened tensions of the city's
World War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
veterans and others by sensationalizing apparent increases in attacks on women by African American men. (Later investigations showed many attacks had been made by Dennison's white thugs dressed in
black faceBlack Face is the south wall of an east-west ridge in Arena Valley, south of East Beacon, in the Quartermain Mountains, Victoria Land. The feature is a prominent landmark and is formed by a dolerite dike which rises over above the floor of the valley...
.) The riot brought an end to the mayorship of Dennison's opponent. No one was convicted of any crime in the lynching.
1920s and Prohibition
In 1926
Frank CarterFrank Carter was a notorious sniper murderer in Omaha, Nebraska. Tried for two murders, Carter claimed to have murdered forty-three victims. He was known as the Omaha Sniper, Phantom Sniper, and the Sniper Bandit.-Crimes:...
was sentenced to be executed after he was found guilty of murdering two Omahans and terrorizing the city as the "Phantom Sniper" for more than two weeks.
During the 1920s and 30s, Little Italy was the center of crimes associated with the manufacture, distribution, and competition over profits of bootleg liquor during
ProhibitionProhibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
. Little Italy native
Tony BiaseAnthony Joseph Biase was an Omaha mobster who had a long career in gambling and narcotics and briefly headed the Omaha, Nebraska, crime organization....
was the "leading Mafioso in Omaha" from the Prohibition through the 1970s.
Safety measures
In 1923, the police created a separate motor force unit. "Pill boxes" were installed throughout the city. Some pill boxes were still in service in 2005. Theories of policing have alternated between the use of vehicle units and more community-based patrols.
Also in 1923, the police department established the first safety patrol in the United States, chiefly to ensure children negotiated increased vehicle traffic safely as they walked to and from school.
Current
In 2007 there was an increase in crime and gang-related shootings in Omaha. Compared to other major cities, it is still very safe.
The single event with the most fatalities in recent years was due to a lone gunman. On December 5, 2007, a young man with a history of drug abuse and social problems shot at random in
Westroads MallThe Westroads Mall shooting was a murder-suicide that occurred on Wednesday, December 5, 2007, at the Von Maur department store in the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Nineteen-year-old Robert A. Hawkins killed nine people and wounded four, two of them critically...
. He wounded six people, killed eight, and killed himself there.
Police killings
An South Omaha policeman named Edward Lowry apprehended a Greek man accused of having an illicit affair with a white woman on February 14, 1909. During the course of trying to apprehend the suspect, the officer was killed. After the man was finally apprehended, a mob thronged around the South Omaha Jail where he was being held. The police decided it was not safe to keep him there and decided to move their prisoner to the Omaha jail. The mob followed the police wagon as it left the jail. More than once they got their hands on the prisoner. At one point they almost lynched him. Once the police wagon escaped their grasp, the mob turned back towards South Omaha. On February 21 a mob of more than 1,000 men stormed "Greek Town." They looted homes and businesses, beat Greek men, women and children, and eventually burnt down every building in the area. One Greek boy was reportedly killed.
Omaha Police Officer Larry Minard was killed on August 17, 1970 by a bomb placed by members of the
Black Panther PartyThe Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
. The Omaha Police Department was heavily involved in the FBI's
COINTELPROCOINTELPRO was a series of covert, and often illegal, projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations.COINTELPRO tactics included discrediting targets through psychological...
operation. Using evidence from COINTELPRO, and from the confession of Duane Peak, Panthers David Rice (now known as Mondo we Langa) and Ed Poindexter were convicted for Minard's death. They are currently serving life sentences. The guilt of the two has been questioned, and
Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
has released reports criticising the prosecution's actions in the
Rice/Poindexter CaseDavid Rice and Edward Poindexter were charged and convicted of the murder of Omaha Police Officer Larry Minard. Minard died when a suitcase containing dynamite exploded in a North Omaha home on August 17, 1970...
.
On August 21, 1995, 24-year-old Omaha Police Officer Jimmy Wilson Jr. was shot to death by Kevin Allen, a member of the South Family
BloodsThe Bloods are a street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. They are identified by the red color worn by their members and by particular gang symbols, including distinctive hand signs...
street gang. When Wilson directed Allen to stop his van, Allen opened the rear doors and opened fire. Wilson was found dead in his cruiser with his seatbelt still on and his radio in his hand.
http://www.nol.org/home/ncpa/ctopinio/S-96-600.htm Allen was convicted of first degree
murderMurder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
and use of a firearm to commit a
felonyA felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
. He was sentenced to life in
prisonA prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
. Wilson's father Jimmy Wilson Sr. created the Jimmy Wilson Jr. Foundation, a non-profit organization to help purchase body armor and dashboard cameras for cruisers for area law-enforcement agencies.
On September 11, 2003 30-year-old Omaha Police Officer Jason Tye Pratt pulled a vehicle over at 10:30 p.m. for speeding and erratic driving. The driver of the vehicle was 21-year-old Albert Rucker, a fugitive wanted by police on two felony warrants. Rucker had 141 arrests on his record
http://www.sparkpod.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/sparkpod.woa/wa/view?1016160 by then. Rucker pulled over, left his vehicle and fled the scene. Pratt assisted the other Officers at the scene searching for Rucker. Rucker shot Pratt in the head as he approached him in hiding. Rucker then engaged backup Officer Frank Platt in a shootout in which he was mortally wounded by Platt. Rucker died four hours later in the hospital. Officer Jason Pratt died 8 days later on September 19. The incident gained national attention. On a visit to Omaha with Pratt's widow, Stacy, and family, US
Attorney GeneralIn most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
John AshcroftJohn David Ashcroft is a United States politician who served as the 79th United States Attorney General, from 2001 until 2005, appointed by President George W. Bush. Ashcroft previously served as the 50th Governor of Missouri and a U.S...
stated "the justice system had failed Pratt and her two daughters". This was based on the fact that Rucker had repeatedly appeared before Douglas County District Judge, Sandra Dougherty, since 1999, and she had lowered Rucker's bond each time.
1980's Boys Town pedophilia
Paul Bonacci was awarded one million dollars for abuses he suffered as a child by the hand of Larry King (1980's Boys Town manager, now released from prison). Allegedly, Larry King "the fastest rising star in the Republican Party" perpetrated his crimes in a ring of power and blackmail involving powerful people of Nebraska and Washington D.C.
Paul Bonacci wasn't the only abused child. Many witnesses and investigators died or disappeared during the investigations,
Racial tension
Long the location of racial tension, Omaha recently re-emerged in headlines when a local grocery store was firebombed by
racistsRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
. On February 18, 2007 unknown assailants robbed,
firebombFirebomb may refer to:* Firebombing* Incendiary device* Molotov cocktail* A season 2 episode of the television show Alias* "Fire Bomb", a song by Rihanna from her 2009 album Rated R...
ed, and spray painted a
racial slurNigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...
on the side of Bob's Market in East Omaha. A long-time community institution, Bob's has been owned by an
EthiopianEthiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
immigrant for several years. There are reports that this is not the first time the store has been targeted by terrorism. The store owner escaped bound and gagged before the building exploded and was uninjured; the blast and following fire destroyed the building. Police are investigating.
Omaha's history of racial tension extends at least to 1891, when a large white mob lynched an African American named
George SmithJoe Coe, also known as George Smith, was an African-American laborer who was lynched on October 18, 1891 in Omaha, Nebraska. Overwhelmed by a mob of one thousand at the Douglas County Courthouse, the twelve city police officers stood by without intervening...
for "leering at a white woman." This event was reinforced by the psychological effect of a second lynching of Willy Brown, a black man, in 1919, which after the intervention of the National Guard ensured the normalcy of informal
racial segregationRacial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
throughout the city.
In the first part of the 20th century, after a police office caught an older Greek man being intimate with an older teenage "American" girl in February 1904, the police officer attempted to take the Greek man into custody. During the apprehension, the Greek man shot and killed the police officer. News of the incident caused an anti-Greek mob to descend upon "Greek Town", an enclave of South Omaha. After beating, looting and rioting through the community the mob forced the entire population of hundreds of Greek immigrants to leave the city within one day. The Greek population of Omaha has never recovered, and currently stands at around 1000.
This racial tension parallels the 1960s race riots in North Omaha, activities leading to the
Rice/Poindexter CaseDavid Rice and Edward Poindexter were charged and convicted of the murder of Omaha Police Officer Larry Minard. Minard died when a suitcase containing dynamite exploded in a North Omaha home on August 17, 1970...
and ongoing gang violence affecting the entire city from the 1980s to present.
External links