Letter to the Editor: Police cuts are personal
Dear Editor:
He pulls on his bullet proof vest and buckles his gun belt. He does a final check of his equipment before he eases his patrol vehicle out of the parking pad and starts his shift, not knowing what’s in store for him during the next 10 to 18 hour shift.
Waking up to the sound of glass breaking is an experience that won’t soon be forgotten. You hear every piece as it clinks onto the floor and suddenly you’re frozen. There’s a feeling of helplessness that consumes you, your breath catches and then you close your eyes and pray its a dream. When you hear the familiar sound of the dead bolt click and the turn of the knob, there is a swelling in your throat, your mouth goes dry, you’ve just woken up to your worst nightmare. Soon there is a figure standing over you…..
There is a faint rumble of footsteps and shouts in the darkness. More glass breaking and soon the unmistakable sounds of guns being fired. It’s a thunderous sound that echoes through your mind. A siren wains through the night, the blood soaked blue uniform material has been cut open. Tubes everywhere, bleeps of machines fill the air. In the early morning hours the officer that was shot in the mist of a foot pursuit succumbed to his injuries.
He was a father, a husband, a son, he was a brother, and a friend.
An officer puts on his/her uniform, a bullet proof vest, a badge, and a gun belt. They get into a patrol vehicle that might as well have a big red target painted on it. But, they do this everyday. Risking their lives, they don’t ask for a thank you and they seldom receive one.
The Town Council says they get paid too much, they say the benefits are too great. What price do you put on someone who knowingly and willingly puts their lives on the line everyday?Officers at Mammoth Lakes and everywhere, say, ” I will do everything in my power to ensure your safety on my watch.”
The Town Council wants to reduce the number of officers at Mammoth Lakes Police Dept. They want to reduce their salaries and take away benefits. Essentially putting residents, visitors, and the officers themselves at risk.
Cuts need to be made to fulfill a debt, no one is disputing this, but before you take positions, before you demand more compensation, picture if you will, knocking on the door of the now widow of an officer. Look into the eyes of her fatherless children and tell them that their dad won’t be home for dinner.
Yes, cuts need to be made but public safety should never be on the chopping block. Is the Town Council saying that public safety means nothing to them? Are they willing to risk the safety of residents and visitors? Does the oath that the Council makes mean so little to them?
I recently read an article online entitled, “When your dad is a cop every police death is personal” written by, Travis Mayfield. Making cuts to public safety is personal. It’s personal to the residents of Mammoth Lakes. It’s personal to the visitors, it’s personal to the families of the officers who lay their lives on the line everyday.
I write this as a resident in the town of Mammoth Lakes, as a sister in the Law Enforcement field, as a friend to those who work at Mammoth Lakes Police Dept, and as a victim of a violent crime that has forever scared my memory.
Michelle Anderson
Mammoth Lakes
Sorry, but this unnecessarily dramatic letter is more or less valueless. Any insinuation that Mammoth Lakes will degenerate into a crime den if MLPD cuts are implemented is completely absurd.
There is really no argument to support MPLD’s current full-time staffing levels. What we should be exploring/discussing, is the potential to employ a unique staffing schematic to match our unique local L.E. need patterns…which are primarily characterized by a small number of peak-need weekends/holidays and special events. The utilization of part-time officers, seasonal officers, and certified civilians is an absolutely reasonable potential alternative that could substantially lower local L.E. costs, while still maintaining adequate need-based staffing levels and professionalism.
And the very notion that L.E. can reasonably be expected to reliably PROTECT the public is illogical. The fact is, they mostly arrive after the damage is done. Those concerned about personal protection should implement plans and procedures to provide their own first (and usually last) line of personal defense.
I support and respect the MLPD, but the numbers (budget ratios) don’t lie. We are, quite simply, paying too much for them for a town of our size. And being as that we have a state hwy running through the center of town, and an interstate passing just outside it, it’s an insult to the taxpayer to hear recent assertions that Mono Co. Sheriffs and CHP resources can’t be tapped during the peak times.
The police union have been fleecing us for years… EVERYONE who works for the town needs to take a pay cut starting with Dave. … fyi to toml you SUCK
This is a problem throughout the state and the citizens are paying the price. Every time the government needs to cut benefits or people the police and firemen’s union are exempt. They are heroes in my eyes but real heroes want to play fair. Don’t get me wrong, I believe a police officer or a firemen needs to be paid fairly. However, a police sergeant in Mammoth Lakes receives an annual salary of $158,000 plus medical benefits. He can retire at the age of 50 with 3% of his salary plus medical benefits for the rest of his life. So if this sergeant has 30 years of service, he will retire making $142,200 a year (http://gcc.sco.ca.gov/CompensationDetail.aspx?entity=City&id=11982650300&year=2010&GetCsu=False). Most are young enough at 50 to start second careers that they add to their retirement salary. I may be able to retire at 65 at maybe 25% of my salary with no medical benefits except Medicare and I am doing better that most other’s. I admire the police and firemen’s union for their political and marketing skills. But the cost burden to the citizens is too much.
“I may be able to retire at 65 at maybe 25% of my salary with no medical benefits except Medicare and I am doing better that most others.”
I wonder, did you have to wear a bullet proof vest every day at work to keep some gangsta from killing you? Or get in fights with drunks and drugged out tweakers? Did you have to rush into burning buildings or pull mangled bodies from wrecked cars?
You had the option to be a police officer or fireman. You could have retired with a better pension than Social Security. Why didn’t you?
@ Professor,
I believe you have misinterpreted the numbers provided in your link. The column you are quoting contains additional compensation not included in retirement calculations. Overtime, cash payouts for unused sick or vacation hours are not included in Calpers retirements calculations. A much closer number would be the base salary in the adjacent column, (i.e. 90% of $101,000).
Our chief makes more that the chief in Reno, but we do have less crime so maybe we are getting our moneys worth.
The police chief in Mammoth makes more than the governor of California…. Figure how this happened. The governor really has nothing more to do than figure out how to extract more tax revenue from the 50% who still pay taxes. The Mammoth Police chief has nothing more to do than polish the gold buttons on his dress uniform.