Violent and Dangerous Crimes on the Rise as People Lose Jobs, Homes to Foreclosures

The recent occurrences in crimes and violence can be traced to loss of jobs, homes going to foreclosures, and people finding it hard to live a different life style than they are used to.

Yesterday in Wilmington, a suburb of Los Angeles south of downtown, a distraught man named Ervin Lupoe allegedly took the life of his five precious children ages 2 years to eight years, took his wife's life and then turned the gun on himself. Police said that the man and his wife Ana had planned the mass suicide upon being fired from their healthcare jobs.

Mr. and Mrs. Lupoe, who had been medical technicians at the West Los Angeles Kaiser Permanente, were reportedly fired over a week ago, following some investigation. They planned to take their lives and that of their children because "why leave our children in someone's hands?" according to a suicide letter to local KABC-TV station.

The family lived in a relatively new, five bedroom house in Wilmington. Apparently, they had been having financial struggles as is the rest of the nation with the mortgage crisis. It did not help that they lost their jobs.

Prior to the Lupoe tragedy, a man in Porter Ranch resident of San Fernando Valley, California, also killed his family including mother in-law, also a result of financial crisis.

On Christmas Eve last year, the Santa Claus impersonator Bruce Pardo went on a rampage in Covina California, killing his ex-wife and 8 members of her family before taking his own life. It appeared that the violence was triggered by his being laid off from work in July of last year, coupled with having come off a divorce that required him to make some settlement.

What these people have in common is the fact that they all ended their lives brutally, allegedly following financial crisis and setbacks.

It should not have to get this ugly. Innocent children who had not lived their lives do not deserve to end up this way. The worse thing is that it is apparently hard to detest when people are really feeling hopeless to the extent of taking a life or lives.

We need to get some relief for home owners whose homes are upside down; with the value of the homes being less than what is owed. There needs to be some comprehensive plan to balance what a home is actually worth with what home owners have to pay. With thousands of job-loss month after month, it is time people get the help they really need.

But no matter what happens, I hope people would really think of what they are doing when they see suicide as the last option. It is not, not ever. There are hotlines to contact if you ever feel that you cannot go on. You can call 1-800-854-7771 for 24/7 therapist on mental health. Call 1-877-727-4747 for suicide prevention. Call 1-800-339-6993 for referral to counseling on financial assistance, food, and shelter. Remember that this too, shall pass. No condition is permanent.

Source:

www.cbs2.com