One of the reasons to go into law enforcement and not the private sector (and I promise you my roommates in college consistently called me in the 90's telling me what they were making and what they were buying and what a dumb ass I was to be a cop. Further, they had an open offer that when I was done "playing around" I could get a real job through them...What a turn around a bad economy can make in people's thinking, their opinion about my stupid decision has changed 180 degrees but I digress) is the security of the job and the stability of the position, well until the automatons take over.
What I am seeing for the first time ever is towns giving up their police forces or cutting them down to nothing. Its a good trend for those who survive the purging and go back to "just the facts ma'am" from "oh sweet old lady your lonely let me have a cup of coffee with you and draw up an action plan". But a troubling trend nevertheless.
Here is a brief summary of towns that have given up their Police departments.
San Luis, Colorado. Chief and five officers gone. Sheriff to take over. Link: http://www.chieftain.com/news/local/article_fe7833bc-8668-11df-afee-001cc4c03286.html
Maywood, California. 41 officers. Sheriff to take over. Link: http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/29/news/economy/city_fires_employees/index.htm
Bethel, Maine. Five officers, Sheriff to take over. Link: http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/penny-pinching-towns-put-police-out-to-pasture/19550879
Fallowfield, Pennsylvania. Five gone, Sheriff to take over. Link Same As above.
Oakland, California. 80 Officers 10% of force. Link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/07/13/state/n172707D60.DTL
Etc Etc Etc.
Now I must acknowledge that there is an incredible duplication of services as each of these tiny cities throughout the Unites States fielded their own public services, fire and Police, that economies of scale would have produced better results. But they have managed to keep their police and fire while cutting everything else. Now it seems we are now on the block. It can also be seen with the larger department pairing down their staffs in the hundreds, just look at Chicago Pd, 4,000 down and counting with no end in site.Your neighborhood watch better become armed.
Genesis 47:18
When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, "We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.
