Our view: Crime Stoppers vote a good first step

Opinion

Discussion

October 10, 2009

Anonymous The Glasgow Daily Times Sat Oct 10, 2009, 12:51 PM CDT

Tuesday’s vote by Barren Fiscal Court to approve becoming part of South Central Kentucky Crime Stoppers is a big step forward in helping law enforcement work together in this community. It also was good to see Barren County Sheriff Chris Eaton and Glasgow Mayor Darrell Pickett come forward and change past stances to do what is best for the community.

The regional Crime Stopper effort will help law enforcement throughout the area. Those who commit crimes don’t limit themselves by county lines, an example of this is the arrest of a Glasgow man accused of killing another man in a Bowling Green hotel room. Within hours of the tip being run on Crime Stoppers, a number of Barren County residents had contacted the Crime Stoppers line to indicate they knew the man pictured in a hotel surveillance video.

In addition, the program is funded without any tax dollars. Its fees are paid through a $1 charge assessed to anyone convicted of a misdemeanor criminal charge, which does not include minor traffic violations.

The Daily Times had been quick to criticize when it appeared a disagreement between local agencies would stop this worthwhile program from coming to Barren County, therefore it’s important to congratulate the local agencies for looking beyond their differences to support Crime Stoppers.

In the past when Crime Stoppers had been run solely out of Warren County, both the Barren County Sheriff’s Office and Glasgow Police Department had been allowed to post crimes. Both agencies also had success using the program.

The city’s decision to renew its funding of the Barren-Edmonson County Drug Task Force was another step in the right direction. It’s key with methamphetamine manufacturing rising again to have an active task force with the appropriate resources to combat the problem. The undercover work required from task force detectives is necessary in the current meth climate where producers make a small amount of the drug and leave the toxic chemicals used in its production along the side of the road, for children to find, or in a dumpster, to pollute the area’s land and water.

Simply supporting a common program isn’t enough though. This needs to be a first step toward a more cordial relationship between local departments. Regular meetings between the heads of all area law enforcement agencies would probably go a long way toward increasing the level of communication.

Cooperation will help those people law enforcement is charged with serving — citizens — by keeping the streets and roads of Glasgow, Cave City, Park City and Barren County safer. When agencies work together they can get more criminals off the streets.

Text Only

Opinion

Americans need to change attitudes
There’s something inherently wrong with this country’s societal standards when a mother is harassed and humiliated for breastfeeding her child in public, while any partial or complete display of the same woman’s breasts in the media or on the street for the purpose of sexual objectification would seem acceptable to many Americans, male and female alike.

February 10, 2012
Near miss on super prediction
Let’s take a step into the past my seven faithful readers and review some predictions made in this space in early September. (Too bad it wasn’t late September and we could borrow the line “should be back in school.”)

February 4, 2012
Redistricting plans equally indefensible
I don’t know how Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd will rule in the re-districting case. Nor am I a constitutional attorney, so I can’t say with any authority the maps drawn by the Democratic controlled House to benefit Democrats or the one drawn by the Republican Senate to benefit Republicans are constitutional.

February 4, 2012
Comer sets good example
Newly elected Ag Commissioner Jamie Comer, a Gamaliel Republican, requested an audit of the department upon his taking the position earlier this month.

January 14, 2012
Fortis will be good partner
I put shoulder to the wheel in search of photos Thursday morning. First, there was an ancient bread van parked amongst some saplings on the side of which there was a woman’s name painted in white, puffy letters. Whose van might that be and I wonder if it comes with the for sale property?

January 7, 2012
Farewell to Gatewood
As word spread of Gatewood Galbraith’s passing, the same phrase was heard repeatedly: “Gatewood was a colorful character.”

January 7, 2012
Computers should make records easier to get
The digital revolution was supposed to make record-keeping easier and less costly for companies. Therefore it should make things simpler for the public or news outlets seeking open records to find them.

December 31, 2011
Resolutions for the new year
New Year’s is the time for resolutions, a lot of which won’t last until spring.

December 31, 2011
Things to rejoice this Christmas
The year that will soon lapse has been tough. It has been a year of immovable politics; a year of contentious state elections; a year of absurd gesticulations by certain fiscal court members.

December 24, 2011
YOUR VIEWS: Remember Christ’s birth
December 23, 2011
More Opinion Headlines

Opinion

Search Results

Discussion

Our view: Crime Stoppers vote a good first step

Site Map