If quality was really the criteria for hiring police officers then the Mayor
would be insisting that those who grow up and chose to live in the
inner-city of Minneapolis are the first to be hired to serve us. We need
officers who are knowledgeable about the City and the people in it, as well
as dedicated to being "part" of this City. Even an officer with five or six
years of experience working in Wilmer or Worthington, or any other out state
town, just does not have the experience of a beginning officer who grew up
IN the City. We need officers who are dedicated to our City, not just to a
profession and a job. We need officers who look at the people they deal
with as part of "THEIR" community, not just as an occupier who does it for a
paycheck.
Yes we do need quality police officers, but we also need officers with a
particular knowledge and skill at communicating with our residents. Officers
who because of that identification as an "US" rather than a "Them" will be
accepted, communicated with, and valued.
I have NEVER heard a police officer who grew up in the inner-city advise
people to move out of this terrible place. I have heard Minneapolis police
officers from outside the City say it on many occasions. When I have been
told that statement I reply, "Why don't you get a job somewhere else too,
you clearly deserve something different than being here".
It is that attitude that discounts the 10 rapes that occured in Phillips
last month. OK, don't get excited I was told, only two were stranger rapes
of juvenals, the rest were acquainted with the rapist. According to some
that may not be an important statistic, but to that little girl it was a
life changing event.
By the way, how many little girls got raped in your neighborhood last month?
Think about your little girl, your little sister, your niece, or your
cousin, your grand daughter, and then imagine it was her. Now how important
would that statistic be? Would a slight raise in your taxes really be more
important?
In a debate tonight I heard a Minneapolis Mayor say that public safety was
his highest priority, but balancing the budget was more important. Think
about that when you vote this November. Exactly how much more important is
an extra $10.00 or $20.00 on your property taxes compared to YOUR little
girl being that little girl whose life has been so changed?
Jim Graham,
Ventura Village
"It is always an utter folly to underestimate the lure and attraction of a
great evil. The whitened bones of their victims litter the highways and
byways of mankind's history. Stopped only by the few willing to pay the
ultimate price and make a stand."
- Toe
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