There were two letters to the editor in last week's Berkshire Record, one castigating the newspaper for implying that the Egremont police did little more than giving out speeding tickets, and one castigating the newspaper for calling Egremont a speed trap. The first letter seems to treat every call to the police department as a police event. If you look at the annual police report, you'll start to chuckle at that characterization. The second letter made me chuckle without looking at anything else. If the whole world thinks that Egremont is a speed trap (and the whole world does), then guess what folks, IT IS A SPEED TRAP!
There are serious issues about our police department and what its future should look like, issues that merit serious discussion and decisions. Defending the department by mischaracterizing the facts doesn't help further that process.
For years I've jokingly suggested that we should eliminate the police department for one year and see if there's any measurable impact on crime in the town. If there isn't, why do we need the department? If there's more of this romanticization of the police department and what it does, I may start to make my own suggestion seriously.
News about Egremont and what's going on there, with a particular focus on local government activities. Your comments on postings are strongly encouraged. This blog is intended to be a forum for ideas and thoughts from everyone.
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About Me
- Richard Allen
- I'm a retired New York City lawyer who tries to look to the future with an eye on the past, to apply cold hard reasoning to public issues and to stay true to the basic libertarian philosophy: If something doesn't affect my health or safety, don't legislate it; leave me alone and I'll leave you alone.
1 comment:
The editorials last week in the Berkshire Record are mistaken. In order to see how effective this police department is, one needs to look beyond the surface statistics. Just because the town report shows crime, it does not mean the police are handling it effectively. Most of the recent "big cases" cited in the editorial were not solved by Egremont Police. Other departments brought specific information to their attention which was then acted upon. The police log is not the true reflection of effectiveness. It is very easy to manipulate the log to create entries or multiply them to give the illusion that the department is busy. I have seen this first hand. Regarding speeding tickets. Chief Bucknell knows that her department has a negative image and all she has to do is tell them to write more warnings instead of citations. She is a great manipulator of publicity and creating a false image.
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