Editorial: Savagery on our streets

Friday, April 21, 2006 | 7:19 a.m.

Clark County Sheriff Bill Young said a lot of what happened regarding last weekend's string of assaults, which included the savage beating of at least one MGM Grand groundskeeper, shouldn't have happened.

The captain who refused to reveal that Saturday's beating occurred outside the MGM Grand "made an error in judgment," Young said during a meeting with the Las Vegas Sun editorial board this week. "Where a crime occurs is fair game. The public has a right to know where this crime occurred," the sheriff said.

It certainly does, especially when police release video footage of the offense and ask for the public's help in finding the suspects. But far more egregious than one Metro captain's mistake in dealing with the media is the fact that this crime even happened. The beating was so incredibly savage. At one point the victim was curled in a fetal position while his attackers stomped him.

"It's beyond my wildest imagination to see young people today" committing such an act, Young said. "I've never seen (a beating) to that degree involving that number of people in all the years I've been on Metro."

And police suspect the MGM beating was only one in a string of assaults and robberies the group of 15 to 20 youths committed last weekend.

"Where did they get the idea that crime is cool? Are their parents telling them that? No," Young said. "I don't think their parents are telling them anything."

Young has been openly critical of the violence that is glorified in the lyrics of some rap music and video games. But even he considers those influences secondary to that of parents. We agree and would add that all adults bear some responsibility in how a community's children view what is right and wrong.

Certainly, the blame for these crimes rests squarely on the shoulders of the young adults who committed them. But we can't ignore the fact that they have grown up in an era when basic respect and human decency have eroded. And the cause of this deterioration reaches beyond obviously violent images and songs.

From yapping on a cell phone while ignoring store clerks who are ringing up our sales, to accepting profanity on prime-time TV, to the angry bumper-sticker rhetoric that has replaced thoughtful discussion, adults show children every day what they consider acceptable. That little auto window decal of Calvin the cartoon character urinating on whatever it is the driver opposes sends two messages, and one of them says that it's OK - funny, even - to disrespect others. These images assault children daily, including those children whose parents restrict video games or music selection.

Societal decency doesn't disintegrate because of a single gangster rap song or one vulgar window sticker. Erosion happens little by little and goes unnoticed for long periods of time. The thugs who committed last weekend's heinous rampage didn't go bad overnight. And it's possible that even the adults closest to them never saw it coming.