By Aaron Kesel
Another U.S. town’s entire police force has quit in two years and guess what? Things didn’t evolve into lawless chaos for the second time.
Four members of the Blandford, Massachusetts Police Department resigned last Friday after failure by the town’s officials to address their concerns about unsafe working conditions, USA Today reported.
The officers warned multiple times about the unsafe working conditions, according to former Interim Police Chief Roberta Sarnacki.
“It became more and more apparent how dangerous this situation was,” said Sarnacki. “The enormity of it all just kicked in on Friday.”
The officers reported the following concerns – old squad cars didn’t work, old bulletproof vests didn’t fit, poor radio communications, inadequate staffing, and low wages, according to a statement.
“The town is asking officers to patrol in cars that have no a/c, no snow tires, and no four-wheel drive, on days that have been 90 plus degrees, and previously in blizzard conditions,” the statement read.
“They are asking us to do this with no radio coverage, no real backup if needed, and all for $14 or $15 an hour. Would you put your lives on the line in these conditions? I don’t think so.”
However, Sarnacki said she’d taken the cruisers to get fixed and one was still in the shop, while she planned to apply for grants for new bulletproof vests for the officers. But it became clear the problem was a bigger issue than she thought.
“There was a lot of problems there; initially I had hoped that I could fix some of them,” she said. “It became apparent that I was just putting Band-Aids on them.”
Sarnacki argued that Blandford was not allocating enough money to the public safety department.
“This town seems to just not be doing due diligence,” she said. “It seems that the board was more interested in pursuing a merger with another nearby police department.”
State police and the sheriff’s office have brought in additional officers to help cover the area, Sarnacki stated.
Blandford’s residents can still dial the emergency response number 911 for emergencies and contact Massachusetts State Police for other police services.
Last year, Activist Post reported that the entire police force of Sand Point, Alaska quit, leaving the town without any authoritative presence.
Sand Point, in comparison to Blandford, Massachusetts, has a smaller population of about 1,000, which was covered by just three police officers compared to four in Blandford.
In both towns, the departure of the police force didn’t cause chaos. No more arrests and charges for fishing without a license, speeding down a public road or any of the other outrageous things that police across the nation try to enforce in the name of the state against the private individual citizen.
This is the second example that proves a statist wrong who believes that without authority there would be lawlessness and chaos in a town/city.
There was no Purge–like behavior, people weren’t killing each other without the police as is depicted in movies as propaganda for justifying the need for authoritarian structure.
Aaron Kesel writes for Activist Post. Support us at Patreon. Follow us on Minds, Steemit, SoMee, BitChute, Facebook and Twitter. Ready for solutions? Subscribe to our premium newsletter Counter Markets.
Image credit: Matthew Cooke
well it is not really outrageous to prevent speeding down a public road.
Yes, it is. Because no “prevention” occurs first of all; and secondly, such conduct is a direct assault on the common law that, under the constitution, is required to be the system of law for the republic.
ok no prevention does occur. but it is nice to observe knuckle heads getting the ticket after racing thru the school zone. what tragedy might befall these poor knuckleheads if the policeman was not there to save them from the ire of the neighborhood?
You just made your opponents point in this debate. “The ire of the neighborhood”, you admit, is more powerful and effective than a police force.
well the ‘ire of the neighborhood’ would indeed be powerful and effective if not for the efforts of the policeman in discouraging it. i am not an advocate of policeman in general but there are times when he does come in handy.
Evidently you haven’t been out on the roads lately. Speeding, and other far more dangerous violations show no evidence of impediment by enforcement OR by any rational thought process taking place with respect to the manner of driving. The use of the motor vehicle code is now, and has been, for the 70 years thai I have been driving, producing revenue. While enforcement practices do result in speed reduction among some operators, there is no evidence that supports any increase in safety or reduction in accident frequency or severity. Enforcement practices, as they are almost always implemented, do not address the problem. From almost 40 years in accident investigation, it became clear that there are people who are apparently incapable of acquiring the mental state necessary to safely operate a motor vehicle. The plain fact is that government enforcement action has very little effect on either crime or highway safety as it is conducted today.
When certain groups hear about this, they will have a field day in that town…
What absolute nonsense. The police do not prevent crime anywhere; and most of the time they don’t even properly investigate real crimes.
Some people just never learn….
Your name is very accurate. You have a slave’s mentality.
What’s accurate are criminal statistics – read some.
Move to NC where half of every city budget is spent on law enforcement. All they ask in return is that you collect money from the local citizens.
That problem is endemic. Michigan law enforcement officers don’t patrol; they just wait in their totally unmarked cars for driving violations.
I responded to your very valid observation, but my response is being censored out. It appears that there is now nowhere that honest criticism of government can be tolerated. I saved it and reposted it ad will see if it remains. It didn’t, so I will no longer visit this site.
That’s OK…once they apply for a DHS grant to get anti-terrorism gear, an urban assault vehicle, and hire liberal wackos, the crime will shoot up as a backlash against police brutality
We are a self regulating society. As far as MA., why do they need polezi in such a socialist paradise???
How long does it take for a reply to be “approved”? And who decides what is “approved”? Does it have to meet with the “approval” of Big Brother”? Do my concerns with the corruption in “government” now serve to put me on the “watch list”?
“YES”
“Cops” are thrilled to exercise their authority, whereas police persons enjoy fulfilling their duty.
My word, can’t they get the fed’s down there at once, they might break out the lemonade stands…