© 2007 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.
It is election season, and Election Day in
If the current candidates for mayor and city council want my vote and the votes of people who feel as I do, they have to concentrate on core issues. I believe issues of citizen safety come first. My local government must protect me to the best of its ability. I will vote against those who say protecting me costs too much. If I die, nothing else is important.
Politics is about drawing lines. So what line do we draw around protecting the people? Let us use the Las Cruces Fire Department model, which has a presumption of response to my emergencies of five minutes or less. That includes one minute to get their gear on and an average of four minutes to travel to a fire from a number of fire stations.
When a house is on fire, five minutes is a long time, but reasonable. So I want the Las Cruces Police Department to be given the resources for an average five-minute response to citizen emergencies.
Why is five minutes so important to us citizens? It certainly is if a drug dealer mistakes your home for that of someone who has not paid a debt and is trying to kick in your door. Five minutes of a monster trying to get at you will seem like an eternity. Further, I believe I would rather let an officer shoot it out with this intruder than have to trade shots down my hallway while loved ones and animals cower.
These four stories are what made me think of response time as my No. 1 priority:
• A year ago I observed, at 11 p.m. on a Thursday, an impaired driver who was weaving and slowly running over curbs on
• A friend and I were on
• Late one night I noticed a man with no shirt or shoes wandering in my neighborhood. I called 911. No units were available. The dispatcher asked for my location. I looked up at the street sign and read the names aloud. The dispatcher told me in no uncertain terms those roads did not intersect. I held my temper and said I was looking at the street sign. Just then the strange man invaded a house with the garage door open. I jumped out of my car and started in after him but he lurched back out, so I retreated to my auto. It took 40 minutes for the police to arrive. They grabbed him immediately.
• One afternoon a few years ago I heard a loud noise and looked out my side window. A young man was kicking in my neighbor’s door. I knew my neighbors were out of town. I called 911. I asked if I should go get the description of the car and license number. The dispatcher said to stay inside; the police would be there shortly. The young man got the TV and other stuff and left at the 10-minute mark. A police officer showed up 70 minutes later to take a report. As tactfully as I could, I mentioned that a man in a wheelchair would have gotten away.
None of these incidents were the fault of the police officers; in fact, I have the highest respect for them. Rather, they are caused by the elected officials who have not set a priority for quick response times.
This goes to the core of the legitimate role of government in a free society. We want protection for our loved ones and ourselves. After the citizens have a quick response for physical threats, fire emergencies and health emergencies then we can talk about metal palm trees or trips for our officials to faraway places for conferences. We can fund the other folderol of government after we fund the core needs of the citizens.
The candidates need to provide a plan for my core issue, the safety of the citizens with quick police response. Then those who get elected must follow through with that campaign promise.
Swickard is a weekly columnist for this site. You can reach him at michael@swickard.com.