By Lawrence W. Daly, MSc
Forensic Expert and Author
Depending on what side of the political fence you are on, you may believe you understand what effect the presidential election will have on the law enforcement community and what it means to Americans.
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| Official photographic portrait of US President Barack Obama (born 4 August 1961; assumed office 20 January 2009) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The jobs report was released Friday and it was not good
for Americans. You can point fingers at one party or the other stating it is President Obama’s fault or the conservatives, or both of them, but for the law enforcement community, especially those who are the first-responders, crimes continue to occur and not only are they occurring but the economy is causing some of the problems. People have grown frustrated in losing their jobs, homes, paying gas prices now over $4.00+, displaying their mental, emotional, and stress problems, little hope that they will find a job, how they will feed their family, and so much more.
Some cities recently declared bankruptcies and some law enforcement officers have either lost their jobs or their pay has been reduced to the pay of minimum wage. Either situation would lead law enforcement officials to be concerned about how they are going to protect the communities they work in and the citizens of those communities should be worried as well.
Today, in Denver, Colorado, a 19 year-old male took a hostage at a Radio Shack and shots were fired. Allegedly, the unidentified male had planned to rob the Payday Loans store, which is next store to the Radio Shack, but things went sideways and he grabbed a hostage and moved he and the hostage into the Radio Shack. It took multiple law enforcement officers, specialized units such as SWAT and other specialized officers who have dealt with hostage situations to handle the situations. The hostage was released and the perpetrator was taken into custody.
So let us look into the future for just a moment and have a discussion about reality in the law enforcement community. Taking the Denver, Colorado situation which occurred Friday, if the city or county councils, state legislatures, or the Federal Government decide to begin reducing their law enforcements budget, the first thing to go will be the manpower i.e. first-responders on the street.
Those who are employed to protect and serve may not have a job in the near future. With some cities, counties, and states declaring bankruptcies or about to declare bankruptcies the first to go in the public service divisions will be law enforcement jobs.
Recently in the county of King, in Washington State, many deputy sheriffs have lost their jobs due to budget constraints. It is only the beginning of what is to happen nationwide. The problem is no one and this means no one has come up with a plan to get the economy moving forward in the local, county, state, or Federal Government arena. Nobody is spending their money or saving their money as they have no idea what the future holds.
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| Mitt Romney (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Of course President Obama, Vice-President Obama, Governor Mitt Romney, and Congressman Paul Ryan believe they have the answers to solving the economy. President Obama’s and Governor Romney’s economy plans are miles apart, and until the election is over the citizens of the United States, which includes law enforcement officials, jobs are on the line. Even then the winning party may not be able to stop the downward spiral.
So who will secure the jobs of law enforcement officials? Most importantly if the law enforcement community is brutally dissected to a minimal police force, the law enforcement community will not be the only people who will suffer.
Those who will suffer will be the citizens in the communities whose crime rate is higher than it ever has been in years. Homicide rates have risen to unacceptable levels in most of the major cities in the United States.
These politicians want you to believe that the formula to these questions is simple and law enforcement jobs are not at risk and safety is a number one priority for those who live in high-crime neighborhoods, but where are the indicators that things are changing.
President Obama advocates that building a bigger government is the way to keep law enforcement officers on the streets. Governor Romney advocates that investing into small businesses will keep law enforcement on the streets and communities safe.
The differences between the two parties may not resolve some of the cities, counties, states, and Federal Government financial problems. Let us examine President Obama’s plans. In order for law enforcement officers to keep their jobs, the President would need to have the money to funnel into these government agencies. Unfortunately, the 16 Trillion National Debt has people more than concerned, but has predicted that if the President continues on his plans to spend more money, the United States does not have the money to pay for the entitlement programs as well as law enforcement budgets. The financial experts are of the opinion that the Federal Government is on their way to bankruptcy and he will be a one-term president.
Governor Romney believes that if the government agencies invest into small businesses, people will be hired, a positive increase in revenue would be created and law enforcement jobs would no longer be in jeopardy. The positive facts about the Governor’s proposal are that history has demonstrated that investing into small businesses has turned the economy around, where building a bigger government won’t and hasn’t worked. Of course the citizens have their responsibilities in paying their taxes if they have jobs to do so.
Either leader, President Obama or Governor Romney have not told you, “By the way if we are both wrong, the criminals will be taking over, because no one will be at the crime scenes to protect the innocent and apprehend the criminals.”
Studies have shown that when there is a reduction in the number of law enforcement officers, there will be an increase in criminal behavior, and activity. This analysis is common sense at its best. It is like taking all of the correctional officers out of a prison and leaving the prisoners to run the prison.
In Los Angeles, California Friday, criminals abducted a woman who works at a local bank, went to her home abducted her, and strapped a bomb on her. Then they had her drive to the bank in which she is an employee, told them she had a bomb and had the other employees throw money outside the door to the bank robbers. The door where the employees threw the money out just happened to be the door where there were no cameras. The facts of this case are under police investigation. It appears that the abduction and robbery may be an inside job.
As a citizen you should be concerned about what happens to your local, county, state, and Federal law enforcement officers. It does matter who you vote for and this author will leave that up to you.
However, it is my concern and should be your concern of which political party has the answer in keeping our law enforcement officials on the street preventing, protecting, stopping, apprehending, prosecuting, and imprisoning those who commit crimes.
If the citizens in their communities do not step forward and ask the politicians about what happens if President Obama is re-elected or Governor Romney is elected, “What will happen to the men and women who wear the uniforms 24/7?” Then where is the protection of life, liberty, and happiness?
As the title of this article states, there are 58 days until the presidential election is decided. So the question(s) are do you know which politician will have the greatest positive effect on your communities public services? Is it Obama’s or Romney’s plan which guarantees that law enforcement are safe from being a casualty of an economy which has not been this bad since President Jimmy Carter was in office?
Do your research and make your vote count. Ask you political party for specifics and details when it comes to which politician will guarantee your safety, protect your family, your home, your job, your co-horts, and so forth. Shouldn’t you know what will happen to the law enforcement community, if one of these politicians are victorious.
Over the next 58 days, take the time to do your due diligence in finding out how the presidential election will affect not only you, your community, but also the law enforcement officials who put their lives on the line every day to protect and serve you. They deserve your best. Give law enforcement the opportunity to strive and survive and you can do this by asking your political party what they are going to do to keep every law enforcement official employed and ultimately guarantee your protection and safety.
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