The City That Civilization Passed By
Charlie LeDuff, a former LA pal now living in Michigan goes on a ride-along with a Flint, Michigan cop and reports in The New York Times:
A sign taped to the entrance of police headquarters says it all: "Closed weekends and holidays." Every weekday, the doors are locked at dusk.It's not that the cops here are scared; it's just that they're outmanned, outgunned and flat broke.
..."We ain't cops anymore," Howe says. "We're librarians. We take reports. We don't fight crime."
He guides me through the yellowing jail cells upstairs that had to be closed down recently because of lack of manpower. "If you break into someone's house, we can't hold you," he says with a straight face. "If you've got a weapon or you've murdered somebody, then county will take you. I don't see any light at the end of this tunnel. Only darkness."
We leave headquarters and head out into the night. Howe turns up the heat in his Chevy cruiser and switches on the computer.
...I see that there are more than 12 runs stacked up, including a kidnapping call that is more than six hours old. A home-invader call is two hours old. A "man with a gun" call is 90-minutes old.
"Sometimes, we don't get to a call for two days," he says. Last fall, an elderly couple called after being held up at gunpoint in their driveway. The police arrived on the scene five hours later.
Traffic tickets?
"Don't make me laugh," he says.
via Kate Coe
But I bet their pensions are fully funded.
It should be possible to find the city budget on-line. More later, when someone can get to that.
Police services are dropped because people don't pay attention, and they fund something else. It isn't because nobody was looking.
Radwaste at April 18, 2011 2:40 AM
Rad,
You pretty much nailed it. The Budget Management Office has a pdf of the budget. About $2.5M to police; ~$90M to the pension funds. And about $500M accumulating interest.
Jim P. at April 18, 2011 5:17 AM
This is why I will not relinquish my guns. The government can't protect you. It looks like Detroit and other Michigan cities are becoming lawless just like the detroit found in those Robocop movies.
Here is a link where Flint has a $17 million budget deficit and salaries and benefits with the local police and fire dept. unions DO NOT want to negotiate cuts on wages or benefits. So you know funding retirement benefits are a major issue here. http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=news/local&id=7880901
Here is another where firefighters are laid off http://theblogprof.blogspot.com/2010/03/city-burns-as-flint-mi-lays-off.html as the democratic governor initiates her strategy to increase taxes.
Every democratic run state and city has gone to crap because of dems funding public unions.
Oakland=crap
Detroit=crap
Baltimore=crap
Dragonslayer666 at April 18, 2011 5:39 AM
What was it about Flint? Oh, that's right -- when the state forced on a "shall issue" law for concealed carry, it was in part due to how Art Busch, the county prosecutor, and the other local public servants acted to deny the right of self defense to the people of Flint and Genesee County.
Even after the shall issue law was passed, as long as he lingered in public government, Mr. Busch sent a representative to show up for the county gun board meetings and vote against every applicant on the grounds that he didn't like the process so wasn't going to accept state law.
When you need a ride to the morgue, it seems like even two days is a little late.
Mr Green Man at April 18, 2011 6:25 AM
there are more than 12 runs stacked up, including a kidnapping call that is more than six hours old. A home-invader call is two hours old. A "man with a gun" call is 90-minutes old.
Remember that the next time someone tells you to just call the police and sit tight and that you really don't need the means to defend yourself...
Police services are dropped because people don't pay attention, and they fund something else.
Indeed. I'm just surprised that the local voters haven't put law & order candidates into office.
I R A Darth Aggie at April 18, 2011 6:43 AM
It is not much different in Los Angeles. The LAPD union has fully funded pensions at 25 years of service, and they work three-day weeks (12 hour days). But with nearly 10,000 officers the LAPD can only put 300-400 on patrol at any time, which is what the public wants--cops on patrol.
The rest are behind desks, are in special units etc.
Every public agency needs to be sunsetted every 10 years, and a fresh start taken. Otherwise you end up with coprolite. See especially the Department of Defense, soon to be mimicked by our 200,000-employee Homeland Security lardbucket.
BOTU at April 18, 2011 9:31 AM
BOTU - you're doing it again. I've warned you about intelligent comments...you're jeopardizing your credentials as the resident troll!
Ltw at April 18, 2011 9:43 AM
I contend I am not a troll, but a stalwart defender of all that is good, beautiful and true, a happy lot that includes myself.
BOTU at April 18, 2011 10:40 AM
I'll bet pot and hookers are legal there, de facto if not de jour. Things should start looking up just any day now.
Steve Daniels at April 18, 2011 11:56 AM
"~$90M to the pension funds. And about $500M accumulating interest."
Damn... isn't Flint's population below 200,000 now? Basic math says they have no hope of ever covering that.
Cousin Dave at April 18, 2011 5:00 PM
Flint has been the armpit of Lower Michigan since I was a child, and that was the 70's.
I'm quite honestly surprised the guy riding along didn't get shot at. And no, I'm not exaggerating.
I grew up just north of there, in Saginaw. When I was a teen, it was made VERY clear to us never to go over the river at night (to the east side of town) because there was very little chance a lone white girl was not going to get in trouble down there. We still did it, of course, but looking back, yeah, there were a couple times I should have gotten into very serious trouble.
I really wish I could get my mom to move out of there. Even the "nice" side of town looks like a trainwreck now. It's sad, and scary.
Daghain at April 18, 2011 7:36 PM
And about $500M accumulating interest.
Basic math says they have no hope of ever covering that.
I meant: that is what is in the bank accumulating interest.
Jim P. at April 18, 2011 10:13 PM
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