Ohio Judge tells residents to "Arm themselves"

[CoolBreeze]

JEFFERSON -- In the ongoing financial crisis in Ashtabula County, the Sheriff's Department has been cut from 112 to 49 deputies. With deputies assigned to transport prisoners, serve warrants and other duties, only one patrol car is assigned to patrol the entire county of 720 square miles.

The Ashtabula County Jail has confined as many as 140 prisoners. It now houses only 30 because of reductions in the staff of corrections officers.

All told, 700 accused criminals are on a waiting list to serve time in the jail.

Are there dangerous people free among the 700 who cannot be locked up?

"There probably are," Sheriff Johnson said, "but I'm telling you, any known violent criminal, we're housing them. We've got murderers in there."

Ashtabula County is the largest county in Ohio by land area.

Ashtabula County Common Pleas Judge Alfred Mackey was asked what residents should do to protect themselves and their families with the severe cutback in law enforcement.

"Arm themselves," the judge said. "Be very careful, be vigilant, get in touch with your neighbors, because we're going to have to look after each other."

Ashtabula County gun dealers and firearms instructors tell WKYC their business has really picked up since the Sheriff's Department cutbacks began some months ago.

http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/news_art ... 51&catid=3

Look for more and more of this in cities around the nation....

[AmpedNow]

Law enforcement is one of the cornerstones of society.

Of all the things our tax dollars can fund, this should be a top priority.

What good is universal health coverage when there's nobody to stop the junkies from breaking into hospitals and pharmacies and stealing all the meds?

[DJSHOCKLEY]

Law enforcement is one of the cornerstones of society.

Of all the things our tax dollars can fund, this should be a top priority.

What good is universal health coverage when there's nobody to stop the junkies from breaking into hospitals and pharmacies and stealing all the meds?

Oh no no no AmpedNow..

You can't have SELECTIVE Socialism..

Its all or nothing pal...

[Bob Campbell]

Stop wasting my tax dollars on small county law enforcement. They should just privatise it.

[fearpeddler]

wasn't that part of the plot of robocop? a privatised police force?....

[Bob Campbell]

wasn't that part of the plot of robocop? a privatised police force?....

Absolutely. And Robocop rocked. I want one in every town.

[AmpedNow]

Law enforcement is one of the cornerstones of society.

Of all the things our tax dollars can fund, this should be a top priority.

What good is universal health coverage when there's nobody to stop the junkies from breaking into hospitals and pharmacies and stealing all the meds?

Oh no no no AmpedNow..

You can't have SELECTIVE Socialism..

Its all or nothing pal...

Let's see...

IMO, The main functions of government are:

To provide national and local defense and law enforcement for the country and its citizens.

To provide the infrastructure that makes travel, commerce, and quality of life easier.

Only the most radical libertarians would be against government funding of these two things, because the very existence and function of the country depends on them.

160 years passed between the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and FDR's signing of the Social Security Act in 1935. Somehow the country survived just fine through several generations and wars without any social safety nets.

Do I want to go way back to "that" America? No. But my point is in the grand scheme things, some things are more important than others.

[DJSHOCKLEY]

Law enforcement is one of the cornerstones of society.

Of all the things our tax dollars can fund, this should be a top priority.

What good is universal health coverage when there's nobody to stop the junkies from breaking into hospitals and pharmacies and stealing all the meds?

Oh no no no AmpedNow..

You can't have SELECTIVE Socialism..

Its all or nothing pal...

Let's see...

IMO, The main functions of government are:

To provide national and local defense and law enforcement for the country and its citizens.

To provide the infrastructure that makes travel, commerce, and quality of life easier.

Only the most radical libertarians would be against government funding of these two things, because the very existence and function of the country depends on them.

160 years passed between the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and FDR's signing of the Social Security Act in 1935. Somehow the country survived just fine through several generations and wars without any social safety nets.


Do I want to go way back to "that" America? No. But my point is in the grand scheme things, some things are more important than others.

Riiight...

The country only survived "just fine" for the rich... It was a country by the rich and for the rich...

Welfare for the rich in the form of tax breaks for the wealthy, even during an unnecessary war, or overexpenditure in the military industrial complex, in terms of BILLIONS of dollars that just disappeared is a MUCH bigger waste of resources than social programs that benefit the middle class or the poor..

Most of the folks that whine about social programs only hate it when it doesnt benefit the rich, and limits a corporate bottom line..

The sarcastic illusion to Robocop aside, I wouldnt be surprised at all if some rightwinger wants to bring in private police forces..

Private corporations are making a killing with their death squads in Iraq right now...