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SFPD Sketch of Suspect Who Stabbed Boy on Muni Released
SFPD has released a sketch of the man suspected of stabbing 11-year-old Hatim Mansori a couple of weeks ago on Muni in an unprovoked attack. Here's the description again:
Witnesses described him as a "scruffy-looking" black man with dark facial hair, 25 to 35 years old, 6 feet to 6 feet 2 inches tall, and about 190 pounds. He also had a strong body odor, witnesses said.He was wearing a black hoodie, blue jeans and dark shoes at the time.
Along with this story bringing up the issue of Muni's faulty surveillance cameras, it also coincides with this New York Times article that came out on Saturday regarding how parents who give their children freedom to walk to school or the bus stop alone have become an anomaly and are mercilessly judged by the community as endangering their children.
The article cites data from the National Household Travel Survey: "in 1969, 41 percent of children either walked or biked to school, but by 2001, only 13 percent still did." Fifty-five percent are now driven to school, which has undoubtedly contributed to "the rise in pollution, traffic congestion and childhood obesity, but has also hampered children’s ability to navigate the world."
High-profile cases like Jaycee Dugard's fan parents' fears, but in reality "about 115 children are kidnapped by strangers each year, according to federal statistics; 250,000 are injured in auto accidents."
We are forever grateful for the freedom we had as kids to wander the neighborhood alone in the '70s and '80s, while navigating situations that were on the shady side, much like the characters in Bad News Bears and Little Darlings. We shudder to think how we would have turned out as products of this newfangled, "worst-case scenario" society, but worst of all, we fear we'll end up becoming "helicopter" parents ourselves.