You Know the Economy is Bad When…
This is the first blog since the mid-term exams. Please be sure you save youre entries in case we experience more problems with the site.
Todays topic focuses on law enforcement reductions. This is something you rarely see in U.S. society. The ARTICLE addresses the increasing trend of reductions in law enforcement agencies in response to the dismal economy. Departments threatening lay offs as well as freezing hiring positions. Personally, this is something i’ve not seen since graduating college. Could it be a larger trend or just a blip on the screen? Any thoghts?
I agree with the heading of this weeks blog alot. You know we are in very bad times when they start cutting police departments. It says right in the begining of the article that they are going to be cutting training as well and i think that is almost one of the worst things they could do. Its not going to benefit having cops at all if they arent going to be trained right. The police chief for Naperville IL said that this is going to mean less police visibility and i feel like that is going to hurt communities, and they could see more deviant acts going on as a result. Only small communities might be able to work together to keep the crime rate low, but in big cities like Milwaukee or Chicago that will not work. Its also sad that alot of forces are planning on having reductions within the next year. I think that public safety should be the number one priority and someone even said in the article that this could take away the safety. I think this is a crazy thing, and i hope that it is only because of the bad times and that soon all PD’s will be back running to their fullest.
YIKES… In working in corrections I have seen the effects of budget nearly every year. we often had to work short staffed and some years were worse than others. It would always ease up a bit after the begining of the new fiscal year. There were some times people were laid off and there were other times that positions just weren’t filled which it sounds like what the Naperville PD is doing. As far as I could gather they were not eliminating people, just empty postions. These positions are currently unmanned so they shouldn;t immediately see any impact as I see it. If crime were to raise exponetially (as many people suggest happens when the economy tanks) I suspect there may be an impact but in my estimation it would be doubtful that Naperville IL would see the same impact on reduction in police that a higher crime area, say Washington DC, will see. I personally don’t like to see reduction in police because I think presence is a huge deterrant for some types of crimes, HOWEVER I think we as citizens can be just as vigilant and instead of looking the other way we can be on the look out or shout at the kids smashing the neighbors pumkins instead of looking the other way or calling police.
I find this article really sad. With the poilce training being cut they will not be able to handle certain situations as well as they currently are and have in the past. With them also cutting the police force that means that they will switch being active to reactive. With their presence not as visual more people will think that they can get away with certain crimes. I really do not think that the community coming together to reduce crime will work that well. For the most part young people are the ones committing crimes and in current days for the most part they do not respect the elders in their community that would care about reducing crimes. They most likely would not be able to work together to make it happen. People should feel comfortable and safe and know that there are people to ensure that. I hope that that is still the case with all of these cuts.
I agree with some of the other comments that the effects of the economy are really a shame when it comes to law enforcement. I’ve also heard on the news that many fire departments are cutting down on their budgets including laying off staff. I think that it is important to have people there to help protect the community but I do understand that there is not much more that can be done right now. I hope that the economic situation will turn around sooner than planned and that jobs will be more secure for individuals but that is what happens when budgets coincide with inflation or recessions. I just feel uncomfortable with the few sentences that mentioned that some 911 calls won’t be responded to or might take longer to get to. That should never be the case no matter if there are 10 fewer staff on the payroll.
Cutting police training will increase criminal acts since there will be less police visibility. Only small rural areas will be able to regulate their crime but big cities will have trouble with theirs.
I think that cutting back on patrols, training, and preventative programs could create dire circumstances in our country. Problems in American society will only get worse. It is very unfortunate that the police chiefs interviewed for this story say how it is basically a give-or-take deal. They must keep detectives who investigate homicide and rape, so they lose education and crime-prevention. If police have to be selective on the cases that they respond to (some medical emergencies or non-injury accidents) fear is going to grow and crime will increase. Minor but serious violations increase and this is not a good thing. If these cutbacks become more widespread, the quality of life in America will greatly decrease for sure.
I believe the worst statement in this article is the reduction of crime prevention programs. A lot of us during our talks about drug usage and most likely with the family unit we will be doing this week will talk about how the problem needs to be prevented rather than cured. Programs for citizens and youths that describe the impact of their decisions on their futures as well as on the community are what help build that feeling of civic duty if it is not filled in the home. Honestly, there are a lot of police in the field and they will see the effects of the economy just as we will… I do believe that losing 10% of their workers will not translate into a drastic increase in crime. I am not going to worry about it, but I will continue to lock my doors, carry small amounts of money on myself, and carry pepper spray. When it comes down to it, people must protect themselves.
I think cutting down on the police force could be a very bad thing. The more localized police that is lost, the more crime rates will go up. People are going to be taking matters into their own hands and that can get very bad. Whats gonna happen after elections are said and done and Obama wins…leaving those people who are so against him in office and they start riots? How is that gonna be contained? Hopefully this problem gets nipped in the butt and the government sees that cutting back on the safety of society is far from the answer!
The biggest concern in the police budget cuts is in the area of training. The article states that “training monies have been drastically reduced.” Not only will there be less officers, but they will be lacking in training as well. Nothing good can come from that. This article has me wondering where else the government is making cuts at the expense of safety. I just do not understand how Washington can continue to spend millions and billions in some places, but claim there is no money to sink in other areas. Like Beth blogged earlier, citizens are going to have to start looking out for one another. We should be doing that anyway.
This is a huge concern. Today, Fox News reported that banks were refusing to hand out money that was givin to them from the bailout. This bailout was supossed to help out the people and if it doesn’t, I don’t think that police will see a cut back, but I think that we may see it in other public service programs. With a cut back in the police department, we will see a rise in crime in the large cities and eventaully will see crime rise through out the country.
Wow I am shocked that we have come to this, to the point of having to cut back so much that our Police Departments are shrinking. I understand our economy is getting pretty bad but should we honestly be okay with these kinds of risks? Cutting positions in the departments that keep us safe is a concern. I hope that the cutbacks don’t have to get much worse than this, we as a community can only do so much to keep ourselves safe but we do not have the training and knowledge that the Police have.
Wow I didnt know that bad of a cut back was occuring in the criminal justice area. I had heard of some cut backs but I never thought it was that bad. Yes the economy is on a downward spiral but hopefully President Obama will turn that around for us. I understand why departments are cutting back with opened positions but cutting back on overtime and money in the training academy area I do not think is a good idea. Reading over some of the things that the departments are going to do, not respond to mortocylce accidents if no one is injured, or emergency situations, seems stupid. The police are suppose to be there for a community in its time of need. Including accidents and medical emergencies. Cutting back the visibility of police in communites might not be the best thing either. Yes people will need to keep a wathco ver their cimmunity to make sure crimes dont arise but the police still need to let the community know that they are there for them when they need them. Just the other night I was discussing with my mom a story she heard in the news about a woman having to call in to 911 THREE times before a polcie officer came out to the area. The woman was called the first time because she could hear two people arguing outside. The second call she reported screaming. The third call was how deadly quiet it got after the screams. When the police finally did arrive they found a body that had been beaten to death. This is an example of how less police in our system does not profit anybody. Now I dont know if the police were busy that night or simply ignoring this woman’s concerns either way though a life could’ve been saved and wasnt. So cut backs in our criminal justice area is definetly not a good thing and needs to be kept up with.
I think that the biggest problem with all of this is the lack of officers these cities are going to have to operate with. It seems like there always busy, doing something, and if there are less officers to report to non-emergency scenes, those situations will just occur more and more often. I also think that its a huge problem that they are cutting back on training. That is obviously not safe for both the officers and the communities they are supposed to be protecting. With less positions being filled the crime rate is just going to increase more. Like Farifax’s chief of police said, all the work they’ve been doing to protect is going down the drain. I can’t believe that this was even an option for these communities.
Double whammy! I too wasn’t aware that the cut backs were happening so drastically in the criminal justice department. And though the title to this blog is catchy the sad thing is its true; the economy is bad and this shows it. I don’t think there will be dramatic increases in crime violence in small towns like Naperville where crime is already low but it does set a very unpredictable and unstable stage. However in bigger cities the story only gets worse. Like Karen said people need to protect themselves by taking extra measures to secure their safety. Police officers face a big challenge and i hope they can handle it in the best possible way, “Doing more with less and embracing for the worse”