Fewer police on the street puts citizens at risk

March 5, 5:58 AMCleveland Gun Rights ExaminerDaniel White

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Courtesy of Oleg Volk

Difficult times can lead to an increase in crime as people become more desperate. Compounding the problem is when budget cuts force law enforcement agencies to reduce manpower. Recently, sheriffs in the counties of Clermont, Cuyahoga, Hamilton, Huron, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Richland, and Scioto as well as officials in Columbus, Elyria, Garfield Heights, North Olmsted, Pierce Township, Richmond Heights, Sheffield Village, Toledo, and Union Township were amongst those who have made or are facing reduced hours or layoffs of officers.

Lorain County deputy Dave Noll paints a grim picture.

"The real problem could be an escalating call," Noll said. "One of the common calls you get is domestic (violence), which are usually escalating. Our policy is always to send two people to a domestic because it's a very volatile situation. If one man is trying to respond, pulls off the road and waits for backup, somebody could end up getting killed."

Medina County would agree.

"Your backup could be as far as 20 to 25, 30 miles away presently. It's only going to increase with laying people off," said Lt. John Detchon, of the Medina County Sheriff's Department.

Detchon said Deputy Larry Covey is on the layoff list. Two days ago, Covey helped arrest two men accused of stealing $77,000 from a Lafayette Township Home.

"If he's not on duty, they probably get away with the $77,000," Detchon said.

While neither of those can be disputed, experts don't agree on whether or not an increase in crime is directly tied to the economy.

"Everybody thinks it's just a law of nature, but that's just not true. There are a lot of things more powerful than the economy, operating all the time," said David Kennedy, director of the Center for Crime Prevention at the John Jay College of Criminal Studies in New York.

That directly contrasts with,

Richard Rosenfeld, a sociologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said a subtle increase in crime will deepen with the economy. It's not that desperate people turn to a life of crime, he said; it's that existing criminals can make more money in a down economy as demand for cheap stolen goods rises.

"It's anecdotal so far," he said. "But when the numbers come out, I do expect an increase in crime over the next few years."

Regardless of whether the economy directly leads to an increase in crime, fewer police officers on the street will certainly embolden those who might otherwise be dissuaded from committing a crime. Worse, decreased manpower often leads to additional delays in their ability arrive on the scene of a crime in progress, as noted above.

All of this supports the contention that citizens need to be prepared to protect themselves and be able to hold out until help arrives. In addition, it contributes to the record increases in guns sales being reported across the nation. They're not all due to fears of a new Obama gun grab.

Ohio citizens are grasping this concept, which is reflected in part by the fact that concealed handgun licenses issued in 2008 represented a 53% increase over 2007, and was the third straight year showing an increase.

Even in the best of times, law enforcement are rarely present when a crime is being committed. With budget cuts and layoffs, the problems aren't going to be getting any better. People who value their safety and the safety of their families are choosing to become more self reliant, and this is a trend we're going to see continue unless artificially halted by oppressive gun control schemes that serve only to disarm the innocent victims.

READERSHIP INTERACTION

muxtek: The scariest part of the video is the officers who move into the line of fire behind the suspect. Not good. I hope this is reviewed by LE trainers. Knowing an officer is downrange could cause hesitation and get officers killed. It looks like suicide by cop is an accurate description of what happened.

I picked up on that, too, Muxtek. That second officer moved directly into the line of fire, a huge tactical error. I'm going to guess that video is going to be used as a training tool, and hopefully they can prevent their officers from doing something like that again. He was very lucky.