What does it mean to support public safety?

Something has been eating at me for a week or so and I wonder what everyone else thinks…

A week or two ago I responded to a fire in Kennesaw off North Roberts Rd. The Fire Dept had their trucks and equipment in the road and requested Police assistance directing traffic. I noticed one of the businesses located in the same office complex as the fire was Loud Security. But, what I really noticed was that every Loud Security company vehicle had a blue line sticker, blue line tag and on some both.  So I asked around about Loud Security, what I was told is that the owner John Loud is a big time police supporter.  My next question was how so? Well… he puts the blue line stickers and tags on his company vehicles to show support. But what does that really mean? It means he’s pro police!!!  EVERONE is pro police when it benefits them!!!  But what does he do for the “police”? Maybe he makes a donation to some police nonprofit group that calls his office every year. Maybe his business donates money to a police benefit motorcycle ride or maybe he donates to the civic group that feeds the zone officers during Christmas. OR maybe he does it all!! But what’s obvious is he wants everyone to think he’s pro police by putting stickers and tags on his vehicles.  

Here is the rub… do stickers, tags and donations make a company really pro police?

If Mr. Loud and his family were in need of police services in an emergency or non-emergency situation he knows that the Cobb County Police officers will be there, will be professional, and if necessary the officers would risk their lives to protect him and his family.

What about when the Cobb County Police Dept needs Help? John Loud is a very successful and influential businessman in the Cobb Community. Mr. Loud is a big supporter of the Braves coming to Cobb.  Mr. Loud is an influential member of the Cobb Chamber and is the money behind some of the Cobb Commissioners campaigns.   

The Cobb County Police is in crisis… We’re losing officers at an alarming rate. Police moral is the worst I’ve ever seen.  ThePolice Dept has been neglected for years and it has finally caught up with the county. Now the Commissioners are behind the eight ball and have found themselves in a world of poop.  It’s no secret … most of the campaigns are running on Public Safety issues.  

Mr. Loud, there is no 911 for us. So I’m calling you out… you and other local businessmen and women that stand to gain big from the Braves coming to Cobb.  I’m calling you and others like you that profess to be police/public safety supporters to stand up and help us.  We need you NOW!!  And you and others like you know it.

SO… you want to be known as a police supporter? Do you want the support of the police officers? Then don’t just put stickers and tags on company vehicles and make a few donations. Take a few minutes and come to the next County Commission meeting and publicly tell the Commissioners to get off the counties check book and correct the issues running the police dept and theofficer’s moral in the toilet. This County is WEALTHY and the Cobb County Police once was a priority.    

Sticking to the "Cobb Way"

It seems the Board of Commissioners and Hankerson continue to stick to the cobb way of conducting business.  Officers continue to leave the police department in mass while they (the board) act like nothing is wrong.  All the while claiming public safety is a priority to them.  That is a bold faced lie and anyone who does their research can see that.  A few things have bothered me for awhile now.  Have you ever wondered why Hankerson continues to get his contract renewed while the  police officer gets furloughed, insurance premiums increased, equipment in deplorable condition, and the worst morale problem I have ever seen in the department?  Hankerson gets a salary roughly triple that of a 10 year veteran with the department, a take home car, and doesn't have to worry about putting his life on the line everyday he puts on a uniform.  The 10 year veteran has seen a noticeable increase in insurance, poor pay and morale, no take home car, and increased retirement contributions.  Something seems obviously wrong with that picture if you ask me.  Our commissioners make what a veteran officer makes and the commissioner gig is a part time position.  Chairman Tim Lee sits at the throne making about three times what the veteran officer's salary is while claiming county employees should get a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.  Guess what Mr. Lee, if you are a police officer with the Cobb County Police Department that isn't happening.  What is happening is plain to see.  Officers continue to leave the department as fast as they can, equipment is crap, morale is a word that invokes laughter amongst the troops, and the county leadership refuses to acknowledge there is a problem. 

Tim Lee and Joann Birell took two police cars off the road the other day for a photo shoot to show off two new cars purchased to replace the aging police car fleet.  Those two cars weren't able to respond to calls for service just so the board of commissioners could make it appear they cared what was going on in the department.  The new cars being purchased don't do anything to expand the fleet and are too little too late to replace an aging fleet.  The norm for a police car in Cobb today is a high mileage police vehicle with over 120,000 miles and in most cases over 150,000 miles.  Several reports of cars close to 200,000 miles are patrolling Cobb streets.  A major crime or emergency call comes in and you see police officers waiting in the squad room with nowhere to go because they are either waiting for a car to come in or all the cars are at the fleet maintenance center being worked on because they are wore out and old.

The Chief of Police knows the needs of the department and has undoubtedly conveyed this to the public safety director, county manager Hankerson, and the board of commissioners.  He knows what it will take to get the department where it needs to be.  The Chief however is in a position where he cannot make the necessary changes because the board of commissioners are pulling the strings and have better things to do than worry about the public's safety.  I see a big "I told you so" coming for the commissioners and Hankerson in the not so distant future.  I am sure they will find someone else to blame though.  After all that's the Cobb way.

Crime is up and morale is down.  Say cobb is safe all you want to but all you have to do is watch the local news to know that's not truth.  Murders at both malls in Cobb, a mass shooting at a large business, and police officers leaving the county as fast as they can because they can't feed a family on a "fair day's pay".  Something has to change for the better now or this crisis will get out of hand and no amount of attention will get it turned around.  The commissioners and county manager are ruining any chance of turning around the path of public safety in Cobb.  By their actions it seems that is their ultimate goal.