Cop copters are no loss
It is so great to see police helicopters finally grounded and we taxpayers begin to enjoy some savings from this needless waste. As a city with a robbery and murder rate one half the national average, we need to scale back the size of our police force sharply. Taxpayers should demand the police force be reduced by 50 percent from its current level so the police force size is in line with the crime rate in our city. The reality is that with Colorado’s concealed handgun law, bad guys are afraid to commit violent crimes in Colorado Springs because they know there is a good chance they will be killed by an armed citizen.
Armed citizens, and not police, make our city a safe place. We taxpayers should take advantage of this and reduce our police force now and we might see there are opportunities to also reduce tax rates that would lead to economic growth and more jobs for all.
Rick Supplee
Colorado Springs
The issue under debate in this letter is that the police force in Colorado Springs needs to be reduced to fit the crime rate and save taxpayers money. I believe that the stasis of the argument is one of policy. I say this because Supplee suggests reducing the police force because we really don't need such a large force in when "armed citizens, and not police, make our city a safe place." The position that is being argued against is anyone in favor of the current size of the police force or making the police force larger. Supplee really has no support to achieve stasis with his opponents on this issue because of his lack support. He states that Colorado Springs's crime rate is half that of the national average, but he does not give specific information on the ratio of the police force to the crime rate. Simply stating that our crime rate is lower than the national average is not enough evidence to support his argument for a smaller police force. Supplee really loses all hope of achieving stasis when he writes that armed citizens keep the peace in the city. Why don't we just do away with the police force altogether and rely on armed citizens to maintain a safe city. We will save boatloads of money!
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ReplyDeleteErrrr... let's try this AGAIN! Doh!
ReplyDeleteI agree, Amanda! Stasis, in the issue of funding police in COS, is probably going to be a given. Even if it takes a while to reach...
Policy, after all, really just equals MONEY, right! (which you so aptly suggest at the end...)
Nice work! --DR. SOUDER
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ReplyDeleteIf Supplee believes we should start relying more on armed citizens in order to scare off "bad guys", I wonder what he thinks would happen with illegal gun distribution and circulation in his community. If Mr. Joe Blow were the new sheriff in town, and guns were encouraged for protection, how would the so-called bad guys retaliate? Bigger guns? Body armor? But hey, at least the force just saved fifteen percent on their car insurance...
ReplyDeleteI agree with your thoughts on this! I think that Supplee's argument is total BS because how many of those armed citizens do you think will do only good for the city and the ones that are good, how often are they going to help others in need other than themselves?
ReplyDeleteGreat issue! I must admit I really like how the letter is written in satire format almost. I am very supportive of citizens having concealed weapons permits but cutting down on a city's police force when crime rate is an issue is against common sense.
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ReplyDeleteI love your comments at the end. Its true. Since this guy is all about saving money I'm sure he would be all for cutting the entire police force. I mean come on, Colorado Springs doesn't really have any crime, ever. This guy has no common sense.
ReplyDeleteI had too much fun with this article in our pedagogy project! My group had the students deconstruct the argument and rewrite it following the One-Eyed-We-You format. This guy is a nut!
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