Posted on 10/30/2009 6:53:28 PM PDT by The Magical Mischief Tour
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Residents of one Ohio city are complaining that police officers are telling them if they're fed up with crime in their neighborhoods they should move out. At least two Columbus city council members have heard the complaint. An aide to Councilwoman Charleta Tavares said she has received more than 20 calls. Councilman Andrew Ginther said if police are making the comments, they're neither acceptable nor appropriate, though he said he believes most officers want to be helpful. A police spokesman said the department addresses the complaints when it's given the name of an officer. A police union official said he understands if officers are frustrated with crime. Fraternal Order of Police President Jim Gilbert said: "It's like the OK Corral out there."
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I don’t really blame the cops here, after all they are probably just being truthful and their hands are being tied by politicians from going after the real problems.
More and more like Britain everyday.
Victims become the bad guys. Thugs
are treated like spoiled kids.
When a neighborhood tips, sometimes the only solution is to move out. That’s the unfortunate truth.
Yeah, they get accused of things they didn’t do, and persecuted for doing their jobs.
It’s not the fault of the cops but as we slouch further and further into a terminal leftist death spiral they will increasingly be either useless to us or outright organs of the oppressive state.
The cynic in me assumes that the police labor agreement being negotiated... and it isn’t going well as far as the rank & file are concerned. It’s one thing for a beat officer to make an unguarded comment. But when the FOP rep comes out and essentially re-inforces that comment?
If the cops tell you to move out, I’d listen. Cops are only as good as the community that backs them up, and in most cities, cops who go after real criminals are browbeaten by criminal supporting residents and “civilian review boards.” It is just much easier for them go and give out parking tickets instead.
I live in Columbus. The cops are right.
What do you expect from Buckeyes? Many of them are criminal scumbags or to use the quote from dimwit OSU QB Terrelle Pryor, they are all MURDERERS! :P
GO BLUE!
Cops hands are tied and there’s only so much they could do if they weren’t.
I moved away from Columbus years ago. I feel safer here in Oakland County, Michigan.
Could be worse, You could be right down the highway from Detroit. In my county, shootings have spiked and almost invariably the perp’s home adress is Detroit, some 70 miles away.
Seems there’s nobody left to victimize and nothing left to take in Detroit. It truly has gone Mad Max.
From the state capitol here within a two mile radius, that's what's happening . The Arena District is safe on CBJ game nights.
Everyone at the OK Corral was white but this is indoubtedly racist anyway.
If one doesn’t like where one lives, he/she should move. Cops are report takers in all reality. They have no obligation or responsibilty to prevent crimes.
My old hometown of Cleveland is right behind you. It’s terrible.
Remember that while policemen would like to be “proactive”, the truth is that most of the time, they are reactive. This means they show up to clean up the mess and take notes, which does the public no good at the time.
This means that when a neighborhood is having problems, their first order of business is “legal vigilantism”, taking care of their own problems. This is a process of many steps, to “take back” a neighborhood by solving its problems.
To start with, a neighborhood needs to become aware of its good citizens, and they as a group need to see that there is a problem, and agree that it needs to be addressed.
To begin with, photographs and video of problems, and who is causing these problems, are invaluable, and easy to get. Identifying the problem opens doors to solutions. Usually, if given even a modicum of support, the police are much more effective.
And when they know what and who are the problems, they can often be proactive, and take care of the problems, which is their job.
But if they police are not helpful, then oddly enough, the next step is to let the people behind the problems know that they are a problem, that the neighborhood is aware of them as a problem, and that the neighborhood wants them to stop.
This is also often quite effective, because those who make trouble do not want attention paid to them, especially by a group of people who might make trouble right back at them. So it is not uncommon for such people to leave after as little as seeing a flier or two on a telephone pole.
If they are unwilling to leave, then the neighborhood should contact organizations that pride themselves on making trouble for troublemakers. For example, if there is a crack house, and the local police won’t deal with it, then other law enforcement agencies might, and even non-law enforcement agencies who would apply heat to such places.
If this fails as well, then it is time to shine the limelight on the troublemakers in other directions. If the police won’t come for one reason, perhaps they will come because of a tip, for another reason. Maybe the fire department will come. Maybe the local TV news station. Or the gas company with a complaint of a leak. etc.
By now, life has become downright complicated for the troublemakers. If they are very obstinate, likely they will try and fight back, with vandalism and violence. So the neighborhood has to be ready for this, so they can’t be intimidated one at a time.
Even two or three armed troublemakers are going to be hesitant in taking on half a dozen heavily armed adults, especially when they came to intimidate, not be intimidated themselves. Bravado fails when you have a shotgun in your face.
And this is a time for ultimatums. Just telling them to go away is not enough. It is time for them to leave for good. And by this point, the vigilantes mean it. The troublemakers need to be gone by sundown, or the block can be illuminated with their house.
Very few troublemakers would be willing to argue the point.
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