With the recent news of two Pierce County deputies being shot and then again another similar incident last night in Spokane County with less tragic results, it brings up a few questions that demand answers. “Why?” and “what to do about it?” should be asked of our elected officials.
In past posts on this Blog, we have been supportive of an expanded police officer staffing with emphasis on specialty capabilities (like SWAT) and protection from street level service reductions. Sgt. Dave Odegaard with the Thurston County Sheriff’s office recently discussed some of these reductions that have occurred the last few years and emphasized that officer safety is being threatened and along with the associated threat to public safety. How can officers protect the public when they are not given the proper tools to protect themselves? Even now, Sgt. Odegaard pointed out that in Thurston County, deputies frequently respond to domestic violence incidents solo because the resources and staffing are not there for adequate response. This is not acceptable to fire fighters and the public should hold the same position and make it clear to their elected politicians this expectation as well. Public safety in all forms matter and is a priority of local government.
Recently, some local police agencies have taken cuts or not replaced officers and then the politicians claim reductions in crime statistics in that their respective streets are much safer. They don’t recognize the fact that reduced officers mean less arrests, less prosecution, and eventually less reporting in crime. We need law enforcement and not score keeping. We need officers investigating and then following up on crime, and not purely first call or “call driven response” as the basis for police utilization.
It is our observation from a fire service prospective that our area is becoming more violent and that some of the situations that we are observing are part of trend that likely is not going away anytime soon. That at the same time politicians choose to reduce or hold steady police resources that the environment and demands of our community are not following this political edict. It is not chance that seven police officers have been shot in a period of three months but represents a symptom of real conditions on the street. Further, we need to understand that criminals/murderers like Monfort, Clemmons, and now Crable exist in our community and are waiting for their opportunity to kill police, citizens, fire fighters, or anyone who crosses their path at the wrong time.
This is another warning that we need to support our local police, demand from our politicians to fund and support law enforcement, demand that criminal justice system sentencing holes get plugged, and understand that doing nothing in the wake of these funerals and officer shootings is not an option.