A very cursory look at the City of Coquille 2007 – 2008 budget appears to indicate an increase in police department spending of almost $87K to $593K which appears to be mostly salaries. In addition the city is anticipating an increase in shared State revenue in fines up from $59.6K to $75K. Without further research I cannot confirm whether those fines are generated by the police department or not, but I believe they are.
Given the information received from The Pew Center on the States regarding the cost of corrections I have to wonder if the actual cost of writing those illegal u-turn tickets are really the best investment of tax dollars the city could make. Will be interesting to compare that to investments into the local schools, extracurricular activities, music, etc….
Personally, I have always believed that police are poorly paid discouraging the best candidates from entering the profession. Perhaps Coquille could have fewer cops, pay them more and let them focus on real crime instead of petty enforcement. Would be nice to see cops that actually walk down the street like in the ‘olden days’ instead of always tethered to a squad car too.
Hey themguys, methinks that flamelick aspires to being the Bill O’Reilly of Coos County. That niche is already taken by Koos News, however.
A quick read of the police reports from the last two weeks reveals zero life threatening incidents. When was the last major drug bust around here? In the county even? So let Bill O/flamelick play the fear card, the empirical data do not support his assertions and I bet we don’t have any WMDs in Coos County either 🙂
I agree, some people just shouldn’t be given a badge.
flamelick seems to think it’s so very dangerous for our police, you know maniac speeders and shooting dopers. I guess that’s why I see them “lurking” in their cars, idling and burning fuel, coffee in hand, just waiting for all them dangerous citizens driving without proper papers, or perhaps providing rides for young girls walking from point A to point B. Now, all this friction aside, police have to be responsible for their actions, maybe even more so than the average citizen who does not carry a gun and have the legal right to hurt another human being. We must face the reality that some officers simply cannot refrain from being bullies when given such power, and they should be removed immediately. Period.
One more thought, calling flamelick Tonto, it just occured to me, is probably an insult to my Native American friends, so I do apologize for that, I think “little guy” is probably closer to reality, you know , that ” little” overcompensating thingy?
flamelick: aww come on, that’s not very neighborly, Tonto. Oh, one more thing, when you post online, you post for EVERYONE to respond to, sorry about that, perhaps someone talking back to you is more than you can deal with, little guy.
Oh, and you know, the calling everyone that disagrees with you a “doper” is so – oh, I don’t know, so very, very Nancy Reagan, don’t ya think? Let’s try to update our prejudices, okay? Talk about “humped up”, not quite sure on yer meaning on that one, but I seem to have struck a nerve, don’t ya think?
Jeez Magix, gettin little humped up aren’t ya?? I thought this was supposed to be a place to air your opinions… oh and its the stupid ass idiots that put thierselves in the positon to get into situations where they get killed and hurt by cops.
By the way who the hell was talking to you themguys I did’nt tell you anything so shut the f@#K up!!! the Doper line hit a nerve did’nt it?
believe me you are nothing to be frightened of idiot.
flamelick: “this is not the olden days”, well podner, not quite true, here in Coquille, I’d say John Wayne struttin around the neighborhoods, that shiny star a flashin would feel right at home, you know, “This is maw town and all”. Tell me, Tonto, since you’re so friendly with the officers, how many of Coquilles’ Finest have EVER been “run down by speeding maniacs”? And then tell me how many have been shot by “dopers”? And you have the nerve to tell me I live in a fantasy world? Geebus, but you are a frightened little man, aren’t you?
One question, maybe your close friendship with the town police serves a dual purpose, you know, gettin them “duii’s” off the streets and all – perhaps it tkes one to know one?
Just askin’
Good job of analyzing the report, Mary.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I hope you plan on researching this further.
As you know when I brought up the suggestion of maybe we should have less Police, I believe I was told, I was F-ing crazy or something to that affect. Maybe the idea is not so crazy after all…
If the police are so f—ing afraid then why don’t they just hide under their beds? Read the police logs – what fantasy world are you living in? Scared cops are more dangerous than any common criminal. Scared cops kill people and break their necks.
Time for you to Jump back to your little corner of the world
This is your problem, you live in a fantasy world. This is not the ‘olden days’ this is the 21st century.
If a Cop walked down the streets today he would have to worry about some maniac that he gave a speeding ticket to the day before running him down or the doper that he took dope from shooting him.
If you think that the low pay discourages the best candidates from entering the profession then you are not as intelligent as I believe you to be. The best candidates are the ones who do the job for the love of it not the money, thats why most of them struggle to raise there familys.
I know every officer in Coquille personally and they love thier jobs and do it despite poor pay and all the ridicule you and the CCC throw at them on a daily basis, and they do it well.
Majority of that petty enforcement you speak of results in getting dope and duii’s off of the street. Not to mention suspended drivers, non insured drivers and non-liscensed drivers and just plain bad drivers that could really ruin your day if you have an encounter with them. Seems far from petty to me.
Believe me I wish things could be just peachy like the 50’s but that is a long gone era so climb into the 21st and realize things are alot more complex.