Arkansas town in state of "martial law"

[IglooDame]

With a town that small, chances are the sheriff's department is understaffed and too underfunded to handle this obvious problem.

If this curfew isn't the answer, then what is?

How much overtime are they paying the police to patrol during the curfew?

Oh, and with a town as small as Chicago, chances are the PD is understaffed and too underfunded to handle this obvious problem, too.

 

[Aegis]

If they are understaffed and underfunded, perhaps focusing on the criminals instead of everybody would be a good start.

Well, that's my point. I wouldn't be surprised if they did not have enough resources to handle all of the criminal activity, which is why they're resorting to the curfew.

The curfew is what allows them to handle things more easily. Instead of handling everyone, they're handling only those out at curfew. I do not agree with curfews in general, but as long as it's a short term solution until more funding & more trained officers come online, it's a good temporary way to take back control. This whole thing may just be a political ploy to get more funding.

 

[JollyRoger]

Well, that's my point. I wouldn't be surprised if they did not have enough resources to handle all of the criminal activity, which is why they're resorting to the curfew.

The curfew is what allows them to handle things more easily. Instead of handling everyone, they're handling only those out at curfew. I do not agree with curfews in general, but as long as it's a short term solution until more funding & more trained officers come online, it's a good temporary way to take back control. This whole thing may just be a political ploy to get more funding.

It's a 24 hour curfew, so they are handling everybody who goes out at all, not just the criminals.

 

[Aegis]

How much overtime are they paying the police to patrol during the curfew?

Oh, and with a town as small as Chicago, chances are the PD is understaffed and too underfunded to handle this obvious problem, too.

Chicago is not a small town.

I lived near towns in Ohio where the population was 10-15K and they only had one sheriff and 2-3 deputies. That's not enough to handle a crime wave. That's not even enough to handle two crimes happening simultaneously.

It's a 24 hour curfew, so they are handling everybody who goes out at all, not just the criminals.

I agree that it's a lousy solution. I'm merely trying to understand why they did it in the first place. I would try to justify a night-time only curfew, but 24-hours is crazy.

 

[Aegis]

Double-post, disregard.

 

[IglooDame]

Chicago is not a small town.

Precisely my point. A shortage of police relative to a rate of crime is not a problem restricted to any particular city size.

I lived near towns in Ohio where the population was 10-15K and they only had one sheriff and 2-3 deputies. That's not enough to handle a crime wave. That's not even enough to handle two crimes happening simultaneously.

Yep. "More police" is certainly a viable answer. "Let's make it easier on the police by announcing that some constitutional rights won't be honored" is not, no matter how big or small your town or police department is.

 

[Aegis]

Precisely my point. A shortage of police relative to a rate of crime is not a problem restricted to any particular city size.

No, it's not restricted to any city size, but it is still easier to handle multiple crimes when you have 1000 officers compared to 10 officers, regardless of what your population is.

Yep. "More police" is certainly a viable answer. "Let's make it easier on the police by announcing that some constitutional rights won't be honored" is not, no matter how big or small your town or police department is.

Which is why I think this is a ploy to gain attention in order to increase funding.

 

[IglooDame]

No, it's not restricted to any city size, but it is still easier to handle multiple crimes when you have 1000 officers compared to 10 officers, regardless of what your population is.

Which makes you wonder why Mayor Daley is going begging to the governor.

Which is why I think this is a ploy to gain attention in order to increase funding.

Which makes you wonder why Mayor Daley hasn't gone begging to the governor sooner.

 

[JohnRM]

The 1st amendment is the constitution (The first 10 affectionately called the Bill of Rights). It's essentially the constitution. The patriot act violated the constitution and according to you so do these patrols. The Patriot Act lets officers enter a premises with "Probable Cause" instead a warrant so it violates the 4th amendment.

Incorrect. Law enforcement was ALWAYS allowed to enter a premises based on "probable cause", with the PATRIOT Act, federal agents are now allowed to conduct searches based on "reasonable cause", but state and local law officials are still held to the old standard.