There is a comment at The World forum that well illustrates a betrayal of the public trust. More importantly it expresses the consequences to society of that betrayal.
Now, my opinion of law enforcement has changed forever. I no longer trust them and believe they are there to help me as my parents told me all those years ago. I am sure there are good people in law enforcement but,…………
A few months ago I saw a young North Bend teen defending himself in Paula Bechtold’s courtroom. Bechtold has got to be one of the worst judges I have ever witnessed and she was true to form with this young man. Despite presenting a good and plausible defense, Bechtold of course, found against him. Everyone in the courtroom thought he was innocent and there were a lot of murmurs of shock and disgust.
You could see it in his face as he was walking away the unfairness of being found guilty for something he hadn’t done. Just a kid being abused by ‘the law’, by the state. Like the person above he will never trust ‘the law’ again. Bechtold and the cop whom everyone felt was untruthful created an enemy of the state that day.
Trust lost is hard regained and I know my opinion of police officers will never be what it once was. Betrayal of trust is also why I advocate for the downtrodden as opposed to the officer risking life and limb in the mean streets of Coquille. The system is so rigged in favor of the state they don’t need an advocate or in many cases deserve one.
Coos County has long been in an economic depression. We have one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. Making enemies of the state does nothing to solve these problems, in fact it contributes to it and here is why. While a portion of fines go to the issuing agency it exports money out of the county that could be used locally to fuel our economy and job growth.
We have to work the legislature hard to stop doing business as usual and recognize that education and jobs are the best crime prevention.
