Welcome To Your New Emergency Services Paradigm

I said and wrote this at least 25 years ago, and I say and write it now:

• - You get the kind of law enforcement you deserve;
• - You get the level and quality of law enforcement you pay for;

I could, obviously, also say and write that with regard to the fire services as well.

That stated, from NBC:

San Jose budget cuts aren’t hurting all businesses, and in fact, one group in particular seems to be cashing in on the city’s economic woes: prostitutes.

Prostitution has made a rapid comeback to San Jose street corners in the past few weeks, according to NBC Bay Area sources.

After police budgets were slashed July 1, San Jose PD’s Vice Unit was disbanded, said San Jose Police Department spokesman Jose Garcia. This meant that part of their job responsibility – cracking down on prostitution and brothels – was reassigned to the police department’s Covert Response Unit.

The CRU was originally responsible for narcotics busts in the area and despite the newly added responsibilities, the unit’s size increased by one officer. It now totals 14. Sources say the result has been an increase in illegal prostitution.

Two police sources told NBC Bay Area that prostitutes have even been traveling from as far as Oakland and Fresno to take advantage of San Jose’s less scrutinized street corners.

Another Fornicalia agency, Stockton PD, took big cuts recently. And with that came a rash of murders and shootings -- Mexican murders. Continuing still.

Stockton PD also had its own "drive-by" shooting on headquarters.

Evidence markers A and B now mark where two bullets struck Stockton Police headquarters Wednesday night.

At 8:50 p.m., six officers were in the back lot of the department on Market Street when they heard four or five rounds fired.

"They're trained, they know the difference between a firecracker and shots fired," says Detective Roseanne Clarke. The bullets were lodged between the first and second floors of the building. Based on trajectory patterns and the tall brick garage surrounding the property, those rounds were fired from westbound Highway 4. "It does not appear that it was a random act, but that it was actually intentional to hit our building," says Clarke.

More shootings.

Nortenos are fighting Surenos -- which means that Nortenos -- those Mexicans who consider themselves already from the North or Norte -- are fighting Surenos -- those Mexicans who swarm from Mexico itself and are considered, in the state gang culture, interlopers.

Local, state and federal governments purposely cut citizen safety venues first, in order to make taxpayers hurt immediately. Government can't hurt; only you need to be hurt. The American Taxpayer. I call American Taxpayers the New Niggers. You can be berated, cut, hurt, slashed, hacked, lynched, sacrificed -- and government simply doesn't much care. Purposely.

At the same time, do you find that silly, stupid, frightening, fattening, illogical governmental programs -- locally -- are cut? Of course not! That would be unimaginable!

You want to cut cops? Be my guest. I've spent 40 years in law enforcement, seen and done it all, and I'm not far from retirement, perhaps another three years. I am clearly the exception in terms of lengthy career, and not the rule.

But I'll make sure I get every last dime due me within the law and contracts under which I operate. At this point I make a good six figures a year. It only took me 40 years to do so. And I'll protect my retirement with all my heart and soul. Because I was already paying $100,000 for a Fornicalia house in 1978 dollars "back then."

When I first started with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department in 1978, I made $5.97 an hour and was "represented" by the Operating Engineers union. They primarily negotiated for big equipment construction workers. Cops were a sad third party. I was quite not "cutting a fat hog" back then nor was my motivation for it extant.

I got shot at (three times), cut, stabbed, spat upon, engaged in numerous fights, literally saved 10+ lives (though not via CPR; I am 0-for-3 with CPR). I am, however, 1-for-1 in terms of shootings. And I survived that critical incident -- luckily -- when I was much younger. If you know me, you know that event; I wrote about it earlier.

I worked when cop cars had bench seats and 440 magnum engines. I worked when there were no portable radios and the only link you had with "cover" was back in your car. I worked when I carried a .357 Colt Python and had 6 in the cylinder and two speedloaders on the belt. And no more rounds. Daring officers carried another box of rounds in their cases. I was one of them. Most officers did not.

I don't have a molecule of guilt within me when I take my retirement. I've put up with bullshit that you, as civilians, cannot even remotely imagine. Except those in combat. Except that my combat extended for 15+ years. I've put up with PC bullshit and made Career Survival my point for living. You want a system? I know how to navigate that system. Further, I've done "babysitting" and "hand-holding" for my sufficient share of adults.

I am due every damned dime coming to me. I'm still employed as a cop, a supervisor.

And smiling still.

All you others?

Welcome to your New Emergency Services Paradigm. Where you potentially get cops operating at slightly above room temperature. With no link to the past, no current vetting, where T-ball is the norm. T-Ball Esteem Cops. I've seen them. Hell, I supervise them. They cry when they get a splinter and demand a few days off. There are exceptions. But they are not the norm.

I've got mine.

Quite frankly: You're on your own.

And I couldn't care less. I've paid my price.

BZ