Thursday, May 19, 2011

Law and Order in the Ozarks (Part LXXIX): Community calls for additional police resources in Jasper

An ad/public service announcement placed by "Concerned Citizens" in the May 4, 2011 issue of the Newton County Times requests that readers sign an online petition to "support the effort to STOP THE BURGLARIES and other criminal activities" that have recently occurred in Jasper, the county seat, population 357. It also states:
In recent months, a string of burglaries has and continues to plague our City. We are writing to ask that everyone band together to support a petition to City Council to authorize the Chief of Police to get additional resources as necessary to stop the burglaries and thefts occurring in our city. No home or business is safe as long as these break-ins continue. It threatens to destroy our way of life.
Later, the announcement calls in particular for "an officer to be on patrol from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. 7 days a week."

I wrote about the most recent burglaries here.

I can't help wonder what it would cost to have a night officer on patrol 365 days a year, but I look forward to the newspaper's coverage of any future city council meetings that address this issue.

In other law and order news, the April 13, 2011 issue of the Newton County Times reports that two people (a 52-year-old woman and a 42-year-old man) were arrested for a home invasion in the Murray community. The resident of the home returned to it on a Sunday night and found the burglars there. The sheriff reported that "a physical confrontation ensued and a friend of the resident, who was rendering help, was injured." He also reported that "neighbors' help ... was instrumental in identifying and locating the two in a rapid manner." The two were charged with breaking or entering and residential burglary, and the male suspect was also charged with aggravated assault. I took these photos in and near Murray about a year ago; the structure is the Murray community center. As you can see, it's a quiet place.

1 comment:

D'Arcy said...

I cannot imagine a place where police patrol halts overnight. Don't most crimes occur sometime between midnight and dawn? This piece demonstrates the difference between "rural" and "really rural" for me. It illustrates how economies of scale can both combat crime through community action and fail to combat crime through lack of resources.