Maybe Indy should have worried about their police force before dropping millions on Lucas Oil.

If we know we are spending billions of dollars on a war we can't win and we have to cut staffing due to lack of funds , it seems easy to assume if you free up those funds for other use it would allow us to keep officers cities desperately need .

 

That doesn't make any sense. If anything I'd say more officers have been hired because of the "drug war".

That doesn't make any sense. If anything I'd say more officers have been hired because of the "drug war".

 

We just established departments are facing cutbacks how can that be the case ?

I just don't buy the argument it should be a crime to put something in your body because of things it might cause you to do. Social Darwinism let the idiots weed themselves out.

Well if they would just jump off of a cliff then that would be fine, but too often they injury those around them.

 

Should it be against the law to drink and drive because you might wreck?

 

Regardless what you may think all drug users are not pacifist and all pot smokers don't turn into Shaggy and just mellow out.

We just established departments are facing cutbacks how can that be the case ?

Some departments are...my question was what do you have to prove it's a direct result of the war on drugs? What's wrong with someone asking someone to back up their claims?

Indianapolis is hiring 80 officers this year but from what I understand that will still leave them short-handed.

 

The crimes you list that addicts commit are already illegal and they should be punished for those crimes. I could make the argument that a lot if not most the violence associated with drugs is due to the fact it is illegal and allows organized crime and street gangs to profit. We only have to look at prohibition to know it to be true .

 

I just don't buy the argument it should be a crime to put something in your body because of things it might cause you to do. Social Darwinism let the idiots weed themselves out.

 

Unfortunately you don't see and deal with what I do. Just allowing dealers to push there drugs with no consequences will lead to a very dangerous society. Social Darwinism as you suggest is great in theory, but a lot of innocent people will be affected by the idiots as they weed themselves out.

One thing a lot don't understand is that Departments get targeted Federal/State Grants. Some are for equipment only and can only be spent on new vest for example. Some are for Highway Safety which pays the overtime for officers to patrol high traffic areas focusing on traffic safety, on there non-regular scheduled shifts. Some are for Drug Eradication only and may be used for Helicopter Fuel or other needs directly related to drug crimes.

 

Departments may be facing issues of budget cuts but still be receiving these grants, so while money is being spent on these focused areas it is NOT available for other areas where it may be needed. Example you can't receive a grant for $40,000 for equipment upgrades and use the money instead to put another officer on the road.

Indianapolis is hiring 80 officers this year but from what I understand that will still leave them short-handed.

Based on the size (Area wise) our county should have 40-60 more deputies than we have on the payroll based on national recommendations. Currently less than 20 answer calls covering all shifts and days. It can get hairy when your answering a call at Antioch and the other two guys on duty are with a "Domestic Dispute" in Faubush.

One thing a lot don't understand is that Departments get targeted Federal/State Grants. Some are for equipment only and can only be spent on new vest for example. Some are for Highway Safety which pays the overtime for officers to patrol high traffic areas focusing on traffic safety, on there non-regular scheduled shifts. Some are for Drug Eradication only and may be used for Helicopter Fuel or other needs directly related to drug crimes.

 

Departments may be facing issues of budget cuts but still be receiving these grants, so while money is being spent on these focused areas it is NOT available for other areas where it may be needed. Example you can't receive a grant for $40,000 for equipment upgrades and use the money instead to put another officer on the road.

 

This, in my opinion, is a huge problem. I don't see much point in the Gallatin Co. Sheriff's Office having a Humvee they never use. That's a salary right there.

This, in my opinion, is a huge problem. I don't see much point in the Gallatin Co. Sheriff's Office having a Humvee they never use. That's a salary right there.

Humvee was free...didn't cost anything, I'd bet. Dept's fill out some paperwork and can go to Wright Patterson and pick them up...while they lasted.

 

Or it could have been purchased with forfeiture money which can only be used for equipment and not salaries.

This, in my opinion, is a huge problem. I don't see much point in the Gallatin Co. Sheriff's Office having a Humvee they never use. That's a salary right there.

 

Humvee was free...didn't cost anything, I'd bet. Dept's fill out some paperwork and can go to Wright Patterson and pick them up...while they lasted.

 

Or it could have been purchased with forfeiture money which can only be used for equipment and not salaries.

 

Either way, dumb policies dictated by the Feds because of lobbying money's bad influence. Humvees don't solve crimes.

Humvee was free...didn't cost anything, I'd bet. Dept's fill out some paperwork and can go to Wright Patterson and pick them up...while they lasted.

 

Or it could have been purchased with forfeiture money which can only be used for equipment and not salaries.

 

I'm sure it's all part of the decommissioning of military equipment that's come back from the Middle East

Either way, dumb policies dictated by the Feds because of lobbying money's bad influence. Humvees don't solve crimes.

True, but they are great in the case of a natural disaster and the Military gave them away for free. Better they be available in case of a natural disaster than sitting in a parking lot in Dayton!

True, but they are great in the case of a natural disaster and the Military gave them away for free. Better they be available in case of a natural disaster than sitting in a parking lot in Dayton!

 

That's fair. But it does go beyond that. I've seen some outrageously high-tech equipment fall into the hands of some woefully unprepared small-town officers and deputies over the years, and subsequently never get used. Or used once, to hilarious effect.