San Bernardino needs a super majority (60%+) police force that actually live in the city. The current police force, like 70% or more live outside the city. The number 70% is arbitrary because I can only estimate how many live outside our city and the City Attorney Jim Penman won’t tell me. It could be more or it could be less. But you can see when a police force is made up of a bunch of outsiders because they only care about the money.
The police make up 42% of the budget, which is the biggest portion of the budget. Second is the Fire Department with 24%.
The majority of our tax dollars go to folks who live outside our city. With a budget deficit of $4 Million dollars, we need to ask all of our city employees to sacrifice so that our city can balance its budget. It is harder to do this when many of San Bernardino city employees live outside the city.
In addition, our allocations to police are growing (because they have the majority of the city council now) while San Bernardino roads and infrastructure crumble. If you have ever driven on a San Bernardino road and have asked why the streets are like this. Blame the San Bernardino Police Department. They do not live in our city and could care less.
Community policing is also another area that is vital to the rehabilitation of San Bernardino. You do not see police canvassing their respective police zones. You see them in cars, waiting to put their knees in your back if you happen to be an African American or Mexican American on a Saturday night. They don’t care about the San Beaner-Negros. Blacks and Mexicans could kill each other like animals for all they care.
Oh, how many Police Chiefs has the City of San Bernardino been through? Too many to count. The last one we had, Mr. Garcia, moves to Redlands and said it was a breath of fresh air. Because the police chief has dual loyalties (to the city and to the police force) it leaves him hard pressed to choose. I wish Police Chief Handy the best of luck. You will not last long.
I have implicitly hinted at the race of the majority of our police force with the comments above. This type of racial insensitivity (and the soreness to our backs) would be mitigated with a more diverse police force who was local.
San Bernardino is one of the most violent in San Bernardino County. Our reputation precedes us locally, regionally, and nationally. However, we pay these carpetbagging police officers way to much and have a low return on investment for the crimes committed.
I have a few suggestions:
Since the most of the police force lives outside the city anyway, why not contract with the San Bernardino County Sherriff department. This is the least we can do to save taxpayers money. We might even see a return on investment as compared to our current police force.
With San Bernardino residents close to 50% in poverty and more on government assistance, we should disband the police force to transfer, train, and put into place citizen patrols. We can boost employment, secure our streets, and instill civic pride in our citizens. If we need professional help, we can call on San Bernardino County Sheriffs or San Manuel Police.
Comments
Post a Comment