Letter to the Editor

Elusive logic

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Dear Editor,

I read with interest Dick Trail's column of Aug. 5, 2008. ("Combined law enforcement, stealth buildings") After considerable deliberation, I decided to respond. I feel it important to emphasize that the opinions I am expressing here are mine, and mine alone, as a private citizen of McCook and Red Willow County. [EDITOR'S NOTE -- The writer is an officer with the McCook Police Department.]

I can't help but wonder where Mr. Trail's facts, figures, and logic come from. While I am glad to see that he is aware of the condition and age of the current Public Safety Center, and I personally agree in principle with his stance on how a new facility should be authorized, the mental path to his other conclusions eludes me.

I'm thinking he got some bad directions to begin with, because according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics data from 2003, the average ratio of police officers to population is 2.5 to 1000, not 1 to 1000. By Mr. Trail's calculations, this new data suggests that McCook's officer ratio is only 80 percent as expensive as would seem necessary. Mr. Trail's 1 to 1000 proposal, countywide, would result in a total of 12 deputies, or three on duty at any given time (assuming 24-hour coverage, which McCook residents currently enjoy), for the entire county, including McCook.

Even this figure does not account for absences due to vacation, training, or sick leave. I doubt that city residents would vote for this, and while it may benefit those county residents outside McCook, I can't see any legal, moral, or logical basis for a vote by all county residents regarding an issue of city government.

As for the viability of a bond issue, my opinion is that an appropriately designed and sized public safety facility is far more likely to pass public muster than the "Jail of Dreams" (If We Build It, They Will Come ... )

I further suggest to Mr. Trail that he borrow, rent, or purchase a radio frequency scanner, so that he can hear for himself just how much of the dispatching for our region the McCook Police Department actually does. An equitable sharing of expense DOES sound like a good idea, though.

Finally, I am frankly perplexed as to how it is even POSSIBLE for any CITY to "weasel out" of a responsibility which, by long-standing statute, rests firmly upon the shoulders of the COUNTY government. I'm very definitely hearing some quacking and seeing some waddling there.

Owen J. McPhillips

McCook

Comments
View 1 comment
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
  • Several law enforcement agencies across our beautiful nation have already been "test pigeons" or conducted so called "pilot programs" for joint police services, generally combining county and city police into one entity. More often than not it appears to be a bad idea. People rave aloud of all the savings to the tax payer when you slash officers to save a salary or two... but in a society where most departments are furiously writing grants, ammending budgets, and doing whatever else they can to put more officers on the street - we're suggesting we take them away? If forces join and people are eliminated... I'd love to be the dispatcher or police officer who deals with the angry citizen because they didn't arrive quick enough. I'd love to be the officer who has to explain to the concerned citizen of McCook why they never see a patrol car around because the limited officers are all out in the county or vice versa. I'd love to be the officer who's exhausted and tired after fighting with some methed-up dope head who doesn't know which way north is all because a vote to save a few dimes eliminated his back-up help. (All sarcastic of course) But in all honesty, what I wouldn't want to be is the "person in charge" who has to go tell the poor family that their mother or father unfortunately didn't win the fight due to some stupid executive decision that made the so called officer to citizen ratio lower than it already was. In either event - simple mathematics looks like the police are already out-numbered... seems a little less intelligent to make it worse. As Mr McPhillips questions "Mr. Trails facts, figures, and logic" I will completely agree... only change I would make is lets put logic first.

    -- Posted by SWHUSKER on Sun, Aug 17, 2008, at 12:40 AM
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: