21 FEB 06: USED UP, THROWN OUT

The House of Mercy and Valley Rescue Mission were filled to capacity Monday night. Blame it on a chilly rain - and people who didn't have the strange perception that homeless shelters throw out everybody to take federal holidays off.

BLOGGER BEGGAR #3 (in 2006): "I'll probably get pneumonia tonight. I get pneumonia all the time," a man I'll call Horatio told me Monday. If only the Columbus Health Department had overnight beds....

Horatio told me he was facing a Monday evening in the cold rain, because he said the Valley Rescue Mission had kicked him out earlier in the day. Those Bible memory tests must be tough....

Horatio talked so quickly that he was hard to follow at times, but he seemed to say the Salvation Army wouldn't let him stay there because he was trying to get Social Security disability checks. The last time I tried to help someone get in there, the "check" they cared about was a criminal background check.

But as the conversation proceeded, Horatio happened to mention that Salvation Army also had objections to a few unpaid traffic tickets he has. This place is so tough, Britney Spears might not be able to stay there with her baby.

In fact, Horatio doesn't even have a current driver's license. He explained a Lee County Sheriff's Office employee promised to work on regaining that for him a couple of weeks ago. But of course, ticket-fixing isn't too fashionable right now in Auburn....

Horatio explained he's been gaining favor with East Alabama law enforcement by providing drug tips. This followed the discovery last September of a drug lab in his home - as his wife was making "crystal meth" without his knowledge. And let's face it: guys aren't likely to check drain cleaner levels every day.

The meth lab discovery last September led to Horatio being beaten up, "thrown out on railroad tracks" - only then to be kicked out of East Alabama Medical Center. Whether he double-parked there or something else, he didn't say....

Horatio may need all the help from law officers he can get, since he admits spending time in prison about four years ago. He says it was for a crime he didn't commit - which scoffers would say makes him the exact opposite of HealthSouth's Richard Scrushy.

No make his long story short (and he carries photos to support his story), Horatio wanted the world to know about how cruel Columbus homeless shelters wouldn't give him a place to stay. "It just isn't right," he declared. Unless, of course, the shelters say he did something wrong....

Horatio also seemed to want a place to stay for the night -- but he hadn't mentioned one Columbus shelter. What about the House of Mercy? "It's closed," he said. Closed?! Was everyone celebrating the successful Black History Month breakfast?

The problem with Horatio's plea is that it came at mid-afternoon, in the middle of my work day. I told him if he stayed until the end of my shift, he could come home with me to spend the night. After all, my chances of housing players during this weekend's college softball tournament seem very slim.

Horatio had nowhere else to go, because witnesses told me he hung around the outside of the workplace for two-and-a-half hours. But at that point, a manager had enough -- and he went outside to tell Horatio to move on. Unlike many beggars, at least Horatio stayed with a sure thing as long as he could.

Meanwhile, I made a few calls to confirm Horatio's story. Was the House of Mercy closed Monday? "We never close," they said. If you need to stay at a shelter, try knocking on ALL the doors.

What about the Valley Rescue Mission? They keep files on every resident, and the staff told me there was NONE matching Horatio's real name. Maybe "Valley Rescue Mission" is a code name for the county jail these days.

Horatio also had given me a "contact" number, and at least that was accurate. It was the home of his mother -- and several co-workers had wondered why he couldn't stay with her. Don't people realize how annoyed parents are when grown children come home to stay?

Horatio's mother told me she's has an estrangement from him. I didn't ask for more details about it - since this story was strange enough as it was....

The mother confirmed one of the wildest claims Horatio made during my conversation with him. Several years ago, 32 rail cars ran over him - yet after they were backed out, he somehow survived. In India, someone would make sure the Guinness Book of Records was present.

Horatio's mother admits he assisted East Alabama law enforcement in some drug cases. But as she put it: "He got used.... Police will use you up and -- I don't want to go there." Come to think of it, you never see CSI staff members apologizing for their wrong hunches.

The mother explained Horatio is "mentally unstable," due to schizophrenia and a bipolar condition. So if I'd taken him for the night, he might have become so upset with my dinner that he walked out.

Horatio's mother says it's just as well he doesn't get the publicity he seeks. "It might get him hurt," she said, "because he knows too much" - implying too much about law officers. And if they won't take him in for the night, maybe I shouldn't either.

When my day of work was over, I checked outside the building - but Horatio had moved on, nowhere to be found. Maybe he spent Monday night under a bridge somewhere. Maybe he went on to the hospital, for that sure case of pneumonia. Or just maybe he went to a police station, and named some more names.

E-MAIL UPDATE: Did you have President's Day off Monday? It appears a long-missing e-mailer did - because we heard from "IsOurCitySafe" not once, but three times! It's good to have him back from his six-month recruiting trip to find new police officers.

The first message from Wade Sheridan (assuming that's still who "IsOurCitySafe" is) cited figures from a real estate web site:

Columbus, Georgia has a Relocation Crime Lab Index of 133 which is a higher crime rate than the national average

The Relocation Crime Lab Index gives the city's crime rate relative to the national average of all the cities in our database. A value of 100 means that the city is exactly average. A value of 200 means that the city has twice the crime rate as the average city. A value of 50 means that the city has half the crime rate of the average city.

Columbus is a city which loves golf and low scores - but I think even Angela Jerman on the LPGA tour could beat that 133.

A crime summary chart was attached to this e-mail - but I want to jump to another e-mail, which added numbers from another Georgia city:

Macon, Georgia can't keep good, qualified Public Safety Officers either. I wonder if our crime rate is going to get as bad as theirs before our city government does something about the problem?

Here's what came back from the lab:

Columbus, Georgia has a Relocation Crime Lab Index of 133 which is a higher crime rate than the national average

Macon, Georgia has a Relocation Crime Lab Index of 239 which is a higher crime rate than the national average

Annual crime rates per 100,000 people

Crime Category Columbus, Georgia Macon, Georgia

Robberies 178 241

Rapes 12 48

Homicides 10 19

Aggravated Assaults 250 373

Motor Vehicle Thefts 656 1063

Crime Lab Index 133 239

Wow - after the Cottonmouths beat Macon in the hockey playoffs last spring, that team moved out of town. Perhaps it was done to avoid angry criminals attacking the team bus.

The chart indicates Columbus is doing very well in crime-fighting compared with some cities. But this e-mail from Wade Sheridan was titled, "GET OFF OF YOUR B**T AND DO SOMETHING!" Do something besides move to Macon, I guess....

The "Relocation Crime Lab Index" admittedly is unfamiliar to me. Last year your blog analyzed crime data from a far more familiar source, the F.B.I. [7-9 Jun 05] - and it showed a five-year decline in Columbus violent crime of 22.3 percent.
So maybe the city IS "doing something." We're all being more peaceful.

The third e-mail from Wade Sheridan seemed to be an invitation for Columbus Police officers to leave town:

Cobb County Police Department is hiring. Here is an idea of what you will make when you leave the Columbus Police Department under the lateral entry program:

Years of Prior Service:

2 years - $36,408.32

3 years - $37,275.68

4 years - $38,143.04

5 years - $39,010.40

Maybe our writer needs to change his name to "Is Their County Safe...."

But these raw numbers can be a bit deceiving. For one thing, Cobb County is a wealthier area of Georgia. The county can spend more for police, but the cost of living there probably is higher. And don't even get me started on shopping at the Galleria.

A large section of this e-mail appeared to be a welcome letter from the Cobb County Police Department. I'm not posting
that, because you can check that department's own site - but remember: you have to join the Marietta City Police to watch over the famous "Big Chicken."

The fact that Cobb County's Police Department is hiring should tell Wade Sheridan something. The search for law officers is a NATIONAL problem, not a local one. And expecting Columbus to provide police with the pay of bigger cities is like asking the Columbus Catfish to match the New York Yankees' payroll.

YOUR INDUBITABLY INDOMITABLE LOCAL BLOG WINTER OLYMPIC COVERAGE: Ahhh, never mind. Did you notice Kansas is up to #16 in the men's basketball poll? Come on in, Baylor -- come on in.....

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