Budget cuts are forcing police around the country to stop responding to fraud, burglary and theft calls as officers focus limited resources on violent crime.
While Greensboro and Guilford County borrow about $300,000,000 this year
to build stuff like a swimming pool?
Cutbacks in such places as Oakland, Tulsa and Norton, Mass. have forced police to tell residents to file their own reports — online or in writing — for break-ins and other lesser crimes.
"If you come home to find your house burglarized and you call, we're not coming," said Oakland Police spokeswoman Holly Joshi. The city laid off 80 officers from its force of 687 last month and the department can't respond to burglary, vandalism, and identity theft. "It's amazing. It's a big change for us."
...In Tulsa, which lost 110 officers to layoffs and retirements, the 739-officer department isn't sending cops to the scene of larceny, fraud and car theft.
If Guilford County, North Carolina is looking at a $73,000,000 Budget Deficit next year,
and the City of Greensboro won't tell anyone about the state of the City's finances,
how long could it be before the police and the fire departments limit services here?
...In the Boston suburb of Norton, police told residents there may be delays or no response at all to some calls, including vandalism. The department posted the new policy on its website."
USA Today
No comments:
Post a Comment