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Salisburians who met last week to talk about crime control told new city Police Chief
Chris Herring some things he probably already knows: Policemen need more community support
and better pay.
There are people who think policemen should return to the days of walking a beat and
developing a personal relationship with the people they are paid to protect.
They're half right. No small city can afford to have officers on foot except in special
circumstances where large crowds gather. But people want to see "policemen
policing," according to D.D. Wright, a resident of the West End Community who spoke
up at the meeting of citizens last Tuesday night at the Salisbury Housing Authority.
That rather vague wish does not begin to describe Herring's dilemma. Good policework is
like good art: It's in the eye of the beholder. Every speeder who gets a ticket quickly comes to the conclusion that policemen
should be looking for drug lords. Neighborhoods that have become race tracks for cars can
never find a policeman when they want one. A discussion about parking in town invariably
turns to the enforcement question. And it doesn't take but one moment of indescretion to
hear the cry "police brutality."
The image of a modern day law officer has become all things to all people: friendly, kind,
courteous, clean, reverent, thrifty. Boy Scouts with badges and guns, if you will. And at
the same time, citizens want their policemen to be heroes who will risk their lives to
retrieve a stolen wallet.
Anyone exposed to policework and its inherent danger quickly develops a respect for the
men and women on the front line. That story needs to make its way into the community. If
citizens get to know their police officers, they will develop a relationship. Herring was
hired as Salisbury's chief because of his track record in community involvement.
He encouraged citizens to help set the course for the Salisbury Police Department at an
orientation session at the end of October and a planning session early next year.
Consultant Peter Bellmio wants Salisbury to believe that this effort is different from
those in the past. Salisbury is ready to listen. Its citizens need to speak up.
Beginning this Friday, new state laws go into effect requiring more people in automobiles
to wear seat belts. Most of the new requirements are aimed at protecting children, the
most vulnerable in an accident.
Sadly, it usually takes a serious crash with injuries to reveal drivers and passengers who
have failed to buckle up. Officers statewide are doing their part to encourage seat-belt
use: They issued 12,000 tickets during one three-week period in August.
Drivers are responsible for all passengers under 16 years of age in an automobile. A
ticket and accompanying court costs amount to just over $100. It's so much smarter to
buckle up. |
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