Law Enforcement Losing the Ability to Protect the Citizens?

[Doc Safari]

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...ns-get-barking

Rural Sheriff's Ominous Warning To Citizens: "Lock Your Doors, Load Your Guns, & Get A Barking, Biting Dog"

In Martin County, Kentucky times are very tough right now. Thanks to severe budget cutbacks, there are only two paid law enforcement officers covering a deeply impoverished 231-square-mile area that sits right in the heart of America’s raging opioid crisis. Needless to say, Martin County Sheriff John Kirk feels greatly outnumbered by the thieves, sexual predators and drug dealers that he has to contend with on a daily basis, and he recently issued a very ominous warning to the citizens of his county…

Before making a wave of cutbacks across his department, Martin County Sheriff John Kirk delivered a grim warning to residents of this hardscrabble Appalachian community.

“Law enforcement as we have known for the last four years will not exist,” he posted on Facebook last month.

“WE ARE BROKE… LOCK YOUR DOORS, LOAD YOUR GUNS AND GET YOU A BARKING, BITING DOG. If the Sheriff’s office can’t protect you, WHO WILL?”

So why can’t Martin County afford more law enforcement officers?

Well, like so many other local communities all across America right now, they are deep in debt and flat broke

As economic conditions continue to deteriorate, we are going to hear a lot more stories like this all over the country.

And the truth is that things will ultimately be far worse in our major cities than in our rural areas.

Just take a look at Chicago. Today it is a war zone, and the growing poverty in the city has fueled the rapid growth of criminal gangs.

According to a study conducted at the University of Illinois at Chicago, approximately half of the city was considered to be “middle income” in 1970, but now that number has dropped to just 16 percent…

UIC’s maps show that fully half of the city was middle income in 1970, including large swaths on every side of town. Today, just 16 percent of the city’s 797 census tracts are considered middle income. Those middle income areas are confined mostly to the corners of the city, and to thin strips between areas of wealth and poverty.

Those numbers are absolutely staggering.

Right now, there are about 12,000 law enforcement officers and more than 100,000 gang members in the city of Chicago.

That means that the gang members outnumber the police by an almost 10 to 1 margin.

Things are not quite as bad in other major cities, but trouble is definitely brewing.

My take: This is one big reason we have a Second Amendment. Personal defense should always be thought of as just that: personal. It's well known in rural areas that the police generally show up to do the paperwork. Even though I think law enforcement is adequate in this area, this article reminds me that ultimately you cannot depend on anyone but yourself to protect you and your family.

[BoringGuy45]

It's not that they're broke; it's that most funds that are supposed to go towards law enforcement tend to get redirected to other stuff. Or they misuse grants. There was a large city in my state that got something like 5 million from the federal government to hire new officers. They opened their hiring process, got well over a thousand applicants who paid $40 a piece for the (non-refundable) application fee (which should be illegal). Then, they took the 5 million they got from the feds, plus the $40,000+ in application fees in the general fund, then informed all of us (yes I was one of the applicants) that, due to budget, the process had been cancelled.

Right now, every department in my state is short. The State Police are supposed to have a minimum of 1,200 troopers. They're 400 troopers short and counting. They're expected to lose another 400 in the next three years to retirement. They're only running one academy a year and only getting about 30 to 40 new troopers from these academies. Again, it's not due to lack of money as much as misuse of money. It also shows how shortsighted the state is; they're paying WAY more in OT to troopers covering the huge shortages. Also, we have no county government in our states, and thus no sheriffs or county police. Over half of the towns are covered by the staties. This has led to increased response times, and areas of towns that are completely unpoliced.

[NWPilgrim]

My understanding is that most local governments are feeling increasing burden or retirement funding. Schools clamor for more funds because a bigger percentage keeps going to pay for retired teachers. Too grand if promises made to get/stay elected, people living much longer, COLAs, etc.

We should already know the police are not there to proactively protect anyone, that is decided law. On a small percentage of cases an officer may be able to be on the scene and intervene. But usually it is by the nature of crime they arrive after the fact and are there to investigate and sometimes apprehend. Of those times only a small fraction result in convections and a fraction of those result in actual incarceration. So there may be a small factor of deterrence from a visible police force. It must be a stressful job to always be trying to play catch up, and even then the DA or jury can let your hard work evaporate.

But smart folks should already know they are responsible for their own protection.

[thebarracuda]

This is nothing new. I live in a rural area. Miles from anything important, therefore rarely see our county deputies. Cell phones and firearms. Keep em handy. And I prefer it this way.

[Outlander Systems]

Literally the definition of Country Livin’.

10/10 Jealous af.

This is nothing new. I live in a rural area. Miles from anything important, therefore rarely see our county deputies. Cell phones and firearms. Keep em handy. And I prefer it this way.

[SteyrAUG]

Even in cities, if you are depending upon police response to keep you alive, you are asking a lot. Not a shot at cops, but if it's happening RIGHT NOW, you are probably going to be on your own for at least 10 minutes and a lot can happen in 10 minutes.

And even when emergency services get there, they have to spend a little time trying to figure out who is the good guy / bad guy and what exactly is wrong because most of what is told to the 911 operator is one sided, less than accurate version of events.

[jsbhike]

https://www.kentucky.com/news/specia...e44453802.html

Also, a really good book that mentions the area around 1900 is "Our Southern Highlanders".

North west of Martin County.

https://www.courier-journal.com/stor...vin/972833001/

[Jsp10477]

Personal safety is your personal responsibility.

[SomeOtherGuy]

This is nothing new. I live in a rural area. Miles from anything important, therefore rarely see our county deputies. Cell phones and firearms. Keep em handy. And I prefer it this way.

Exactly the same here. But I've also lived in big cities and medium sized towns. Wherever you are, if you don't have some kind of defenses - whether a secured house, a dog, a gun and training, or whatever - you are literally helpless if a home invader targets you. The police won't respond if you don't get time to call 911, and even if you do, the incident may be over before they arrive.

Anyway. Shrinking LE departments and budgets is going to show up in declining ability to investigate and prosecute crimes.

[SteyrAUG]

Personal safety is your personal responsibility.

Not 100% because there are LAWS that govern our ability to protect ourselves. But there is the reality that we are on our own until officially designated enforcers of the law arrive. I'd hate to have to assume 100% responsibility, I plan on being older and less capable one day. I'm gonna do my part to sort out my own stuff, but honestly if I'm walking around wondering where I left my pants then I assume my El Presidente skills will have also suffered.