Three flags were stolen, and now 778 people are furious.Sometime between Monday night and Wednesday
night the United States, North Carolina, and Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flags were
stolen from the Harold B. Jarrett American Legion flag pole.
“Veterans hold their flags
very close to their hearts,” facility manager Gary Yost said. “And we are
fighting to make desecration of the flag a crime.”
Yost was disgusted to find vandals
once again targeting Post 342. He said the post has suffered a history of broken lights
and mischievous crimes, normally done during the night.
“There are a few outside
lights we don’t even replace,” Yost said. “They’ll just get broken out
again.”
We don’t expect the police to
sit out here to catch someone, Yost said. “They have more important things to
do.”
But Salisbury PoliceChief Chris
Herring disagrees.
“No problem is too small of a
problem,” he said.
Herring said this could be a
“good example” of how the Crime Control Plan that citizens and police discussed
on Tuesday could focus the department and other community resources on an issue such as
“decreasing juvenile mischievousness and delinquency.”
One contributing factor to
juvenile-related crimes, Herring said, is “idle time on their hands.”
By developing a city Crime Control
Plan, Herring feels programs can be instituted to divert youth from crime to more
productive activities.
Herring encourages citizens to
call the police to report crimes, no matter how minor.
There is a $50 reward for the
stolen flags. Herring said anyone with information should call Crimestoppers at 638-5388.
In addition, anyone interested in
joining the Police Department’s discussions should call Herring at 638-5344 |
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