5 MAY 06: ONE-TRICK PONY
A Muscogee County court heard arguments Thursday about whether The Fire House club should be closed. WRBL reported more than a dozen Columbus police officers are expected to testify - yet there was no warning to double-lock all your doors, because a crime wave might erupt.
For some people, one issue matters -- and one issue only. We've come to know one of those people, by e-mails from the address "IsOurCitySafe." When he changes his address to "GoCSUCougars," we'll know he's finally satisfied.
The public safety advocate with his two signature names has fired up the messages anew in this election year. He's sent so many lately that we're declaring today "Is Our City Safe Day" on the blog. Besides, if we marked Cinco de Mayo, some other bloggers might boycott us....
Brent Rollins (at least that's the name he's currently using) sends some messages which are hard to post here. Take this spreadsheet about the Columbus crime rate:
The statistics below represent crime reported to the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) and the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). These seven crimes are known as "Part One" crimes and were chosen by the Department of Justice because they felt the frequency of their occurrence would be an indicator of the criminal "climate" in a particular area. For more specific information about these individual crimes, see Definitions . For 1998 through 2000 figures, click here.
OFFENSE 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 Number/Cleared*....
Murder/Non-negligent manslaughter
31/32 29/23 23/20 25/17 17/15
Rape 22/17 28/16 21/19 24/20 18/17
Robbery 450/79 405/117 353/101 377/109 431/142
Aggravated Assault
498/131 457/146 469/161 432/136 441/140
Burglary 2669/505 2298/379 2201/405 1941/405 1784/312
Larceny 8763/1332 8744/1444 9522/1532 8595/1379 8337/1476
Auto Theft
1683/183 1482/253 1218/214 1022/278 865/210
TOTAL 14,116 13,443 13,807 12,416 11,891
Brent Rollins's point should be obvious. If you're going to commit a crime in Columbus and get away with it, stop at the robbery stage.
So the number of "big-time" crimes (my phrase) in Columbus is up 18.7 percent in the last four years. But how do we explain the drop in 2004? Were all the criminals afraid, because the Third Brigade was home on rotation from Iraq?
(And yeow, the number of auto thefts has almost doubled in four years. I'm leaving my high-mileage car locked up tight, to prevent jealous SUV drivers from taking it.)
The e-mail campaign from Brent Rollins apparently has brought a bit of backlash. He sent this message, which really was written by one of his supporters:
We have got to vote these people out of office. Let's stop talking about it and go to the polls and speak with our voting power.
Also,
Let's not tolerate the violation of Brent's right to freedom of speech. I know first hand of what he is going through. Every time I wrote an article about the lack of pay and the high turnover rate at the police department, I was called into the office and the first thing that Luther Miller said was, "The Mayor(Peters) called me this morning because he saw your letter in the paper."
Stay strong Brent and don't carry their water......Keep the pressure on the "Dirty Dozen"!!!!!
It is time for a change, and it starts in the voting booth.
God Bless each of you.
T.G.
Hmmmmm - who would be violating Rollins's rights, and how? If the Ledger-Enquirer refuses to print all these messages, he could try Playgrounds.
To be honest, I'd forgotten about former Columbus Police Chief Luther Miller. You certainly don't hear about him anymore? Between him and Willie Dozier, I think Fraternal Order of Police President Randy Robertson is working on his third chief now....
I get the feeling T.G. worked with the C.P.D. in years gone by. But if Chief Luther Miller was quoting then-Mayor Bobby Peters, does that mean Miller didn't bother reading the Ledger-Enquirer?
Since T.G. brought up the lack of police pay: a Fort Benning job fair Thursday revealed Albany offers officers a starting salary of $28,500. By comparison, Columbus is below $25,000 - but strangely, Albany has had all the scandals of arrested officers and fired police chiefs.
One Fort Benning sergeant at the job fair said he would have to take a pay cut, to join the Columbus Police right now. Which begs a larger question - would he get better discounts at the P/X, or as a police officer at doughnut shops?
We know Brent Rollins watches the evening news from this next message:
Do our councilors think we are stupid? Do they think that getting on television and acting like the shortage of Public Safety personnel is new to them is going to fool us? What do they take us for? Morons?
I was watching the 6 o'clock news on WTVM and I actually started laughing when councilor Davis said "why haven't we done something to increase the amount of officers on the street ?"
WHAT ! ? What do you mean you didn't know it was a problem? We have been talking about the problem of recruiting and retaining public safety personnel for years. There was even a law suit about the issue. I guess its hard to see problems when you are staring at your colon all day and worrying about padding your own pocket book. I remember when there was a study saying that Columbus Police Department was underpaid compared to other cities in the U.S. its size. When this was brought to the attention of council, the response by Nathan Suber was "if they don't like it, they can leave." But, when council finds that the city manager and his assistants aren't being paid what other city managers are being paid, then they vote themselves raises because they are too valuable to lose. Whatever! A blind, two legged dog could do their job!
Uh-oh - colon-staring is back in Columbus. Maybe the Council and beggars around 14th Street have something in common....
As for the police officers leaving - is it possible they're the only ones in recent years who have paid serious attention to what Nathan Suber says?
But hold on here - what's with this suggestion that a blind two-legged dog become Columbus City Manager? This seems a bit unrealistic to me. For one thing, that dog would have trouble cutting ribbons at grand openings.
Brent Rollins also is becoming a conduit for other people's complaints about city government. One message had several letters, which apparently were written to the Ledger-Enquirer. Then there's this:
.i think it's a travesty that our city leaders who sit in an air-conditioned office ALL day, make triple what our police, fireman, and EMS personnel make..... I don't really give a @%&* what the leaders are making but it's disgusting that the employees who are out in the heat, rain, etc. doing their very best to keep our city safe; have to work 2 & 3 p/t jobs just to make ends meet and in some cases make MORE at the p/t job than f/t as a police officer.
Do you want someone out keeping our kids, and the streets safe after they have been awake for 24 or more hours because they worked 2 jobs ? Not only are they putting their own lives at risk, but are obviously unable to perform at 100% for the citizens.
Our current Mayor doesn't know "jack" about the police dept. nor does he care. I hope and pray that Jim Wetherington takes office soon (oh, and no doubt he will be elected) because one thing you can count on, Jim Wetherington does care about the police dept. and will make sure that HIS officers are taken care of, and paid accordingly.
I wonder what would happen if the CPD went on strike ? Would the leaders come off their pedestals and out of the a/c to patrol the streets day and night ? I think not !
Kimberly Rowe
Registered Voter.
Two or three part-time jobs? The evening news this week found a Columbus police officer who works FOUR of them. If it's Tuesday, he must be bouncing....
While I appreciate the efforts of law officers, this letter begs for a question to be asked. Do officers really HAVE to work part-time jobs, to make ends meet? I've never earned a paycheck much higher than entry-level officers, and one full-time job has been sufficient for me. They're called "value menus," and they taste good.
(Of course, that's easy for me to say. Some of these officers are married and have children. But consider this: City Manager Isaiah Hugley's wife has two jobs as well -- and one of them requires regular commutes to Atlanta.)
If the Columbus Police Department went on strike, I doubt city officials would do that much patrolling. They don't have to do that - now that the 48th Brigade of the National Guard is returning home from Iraq.
Police Chief Rick_ (fill in the blank if you wish) Boren suggested to Columbus Council this week that entry-level officers be paid about $32,000. But Brent Rollins sees a problem with this as well:
The idea of increasing the starting salary of new police officers is a good idea for recruiting new officers, but what about the ones who are hired and actually stay with the department?
As a private citizen, how would you feel about your company and how do you think it would affect moral if the following took place:
Person A and B are hired at the same time. During the first 7 years of employment, person A never receives any formal disciplinary action and never wrecks any of the company vehicles. Person A receives "good job" letters from his superiors and rarely misses work. Person B receives countless complaints from the companies clients, is suspended from work often due to failure to do his/her job, wrecks company vehicles, and has even been arrested. At the end of the 7 years, person A and person B are paid the exact same salary. To add insult to injury, person C is hired to be trained by person A and B and is paid the exact salary that person A and B have worked to attain in the 7 years they have been employed. Now I ask you, how long is person A going to continue to do a good job for the company when he sees the things that person B does and is still employed with the company? One of two things is going to happen. Person A is going to turn into person B or he/she is going to leave the company.
A set standard of raises needs to be implemented. At the end of the year, give the employee an evaluation. If he/she gets a good evaluation, give him/her a raise. If he/she does a poor job, don't give him/her a raise. Here is what will happen: Person A will continue to do a good job for the company so that the company will prosper. Person B will either start doing a good job, continue doing poorly and receive no raises, or be fired.
In order for a person to continue working for a company that allows the above to take place, that person must have a very strong desire to do that particular job because he/she feels as though they are contributing to society and making the world a better place or they have completely lost their mind.
Thanks,
Brent Rollins
This "hypothetical situation" about person C happens more often than Brent may realize. It's called the first round of the National Football League draft.
The evaluation approach to raises certainly makes sense. But hasn't this led to lawsuits in some city police departments, where the "B list" has claimed discrimination? It's because of the haggling that sometimes, "B" stands for blanket raises.
We're down to one last e-mail from Brent Rollins, and -- hey, stop that applauding, you supporters of Mayor Bob Poydasheff....
This last e-mail was sent specifically to our blog, after we commented on Monday's message concerning police probes of the Internet:
The agent said ABOUT 15 years....
The World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989, with the first working system deployed in 1990, while he was working at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research). He went on to found the World Wide Web Consortium , which seeks to standardize and improve World Wide Web-related things such as the HTML markup language in which web pages are written.
Tim Berners-Lee wrote the first web browser and the first web server . Tim Berners-Lee invented both the HTML markup language and the HTTP protocol used to request and transmit web pages between web servers and web browsers, in addition to coining the phrase "World Wide Web."
And skeptics say there's no value to blogging. You just received a free history lesson - and some of you might have thought a "web server" referred to an online tennis game.
OK, OK - we're "about" 15 years behind, then. But this brief history of the web is interesting for another reason. I don't see Al Gore's name anywhere in here....
It's safe to predict Brent Rollins will send many more e-mails between now and Election Day, and it's his right to do that. But after at least six messages in a week, I'm going to have to draw a line here. And I'm sure he'll understand - since police make suspected drunk drivers walk lines all the time.
After today, I'm reserving the right not to post some "IsOurCitySafe" entries. If you'd like to get on Brent Rollins's mailing list and read them all, e-mail the blog and we'll pass on your interest. After all, his "to" line suggests he sends them to 20 percent of Columbus already.
I'm taking this step because we know Brent Rollins's issue, we know what he wants done about it, and we know whom he's supporting in the race for mayor. If he suggests some potential laid-off parks department workers receive police training, that could be an exception.
So, Bob Poydasheff supporters - where are you? We're opening a door here to be a "fair and balanced" blog, and present your side in the public safety discussion. Perhaps you'll plan your strategy outside today - on the fairways, during the Chamber of Commerce golf tournament.
(The Poydasheff backers certainly need to do something. Jim Wetherington dominated two TV stations' "non-scientific polls," so I'm not even bothering to post one at this point. Even the bumper stickers on cars parked outside the Government Center are 1-0 for Wetherington.)
Now if Brent Rollins will yield back the balance of this blog, we'll check news highlights from Thursday:
+ Science instructor Chris Spraggins was named Muscogee County Teacher of the Year. But he wasn't at the annual banquet to accept the award, because he's in flight training with NASA in Houston. Suddenly that "free car for a year" prize doesn't seem so impressive.
+ The evening news showed the first traffic light in the Harris County town of Ellerslie. If they keep it to one light, no one will complain about it being out of sync during rush hour.
+ Sumter County Judge Rucker Smith was acquitted of beating his girlfriend at his home. Let's face it - prosecutors never presented any evidence that he misused his gavel....
+ An Auburn University committee held its first meeting, in the search for a new president. The way things have gone the last couple of years, I'm surprised this wasn't called an "interim committee" -- and I'll be surprised if it finds a leader before basketball coach Jeff Lebo is fired.
+ Instant Message to the driver of a white car, which I saw make a U-turn on Wynnton Road: Are you kidding - a U-turn during the NOON hour? In the middle of the block?? And you didn't even wait for "Mission Impossible 3" to come out, to use it as an excuse....
BUT SERIOUSLY: This additional e-mail reached us Thursday, and apparently is for whomever it may concern:
Smiths Station Resident Barbara Jordan's mother (made it to 89 years young) will be laid to rest on Friday in Columbus - , Strifler Hamby Funeral will hold services.
COMING THIS WEEKEND: What speaking Spanish and hair-pulling have in common.... and why I've made some people angry at "Myspace"....
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