While the police are to be commended for the dangerous job they do, they also need to be very aware of public perception. I am not talking about those "oh so scary tattoos" that Chief Teare from Anne Arundel wants to abolish, I am talking about the perception that they just don't care. Or worse yet, that they are inept or just as crooked as the criminals they chase.
On page 1D of today's Capital, there were two stories that stood out from the rest. One was about a shooting in Newtowne, where two passengers and one cab driver feared for their lives and are now in need of a new set of underwear. The police are "investigating".
In an opinion column, Eric Hartley recounts the story of a less violent hit and run accident where the police were "investigating" but did absolutely nothing to solve this "minor" crime. While the two crimes are certainly worthy of having differing priorities, what is unique about hit and run is that the police were handed the culprit, the evidence, and a confession and still brushed it off. More details of this incident can be found on the victim's blog at FOIA Tales.
So how much confidence do we put in our police? Are we really safe? In the recent past, we have an alleged cop killer mysteriously murdered in PG County and the police are suspect. We have Anne Arundel County police who are demanding a "flash of flesh" to get out of a ticket. We also have Anne Arundel police throwing away evidence in an attempted rape case.
Throw in a Mayor that wants to hide any notion that we are anythign but the perfect crimeless city on the Bay and is it any wonder why people are untrusting of the police?
1 Comment:
Cops are funny. They are just as bad as everyone else can be and you just got to hope you hire good ones.
But I looked at the website where the dude was chasing down the people. I mean why the hell woudl the cops not handle it. I mean you could probably give it to an admin person to take care of--not like they had to do any policework---they ought to be embarassed
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