Man On Tulsa Tower: Spending Your Tax Dollars Wisely & Unwisely

It's time to be blunt and it's time to state the truth.

With budgets limited and with each county, city, state and our federal government challenged by limited funds, it's way past time to triage emergency response.

One example in the face of American media today is the man on the tower in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The man, 25-year-old Michael Sturdivant, who has a history of mental illness, has been on the radio tower since 11 am on Thursday, August 11th. That's over six days, now. He hasn't accepted any water since early Friday morning.

Tulsa County court records show that Sturdivant has convictions that include second-degree burglary and unlawful possession of a controlled substance. He was released from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections in April, according to the DOC's Web site.

And yet, despite that, ER personnel are still on site in a fire ladder rig, inclusive of a negotiations team. Trust me, there is MUCH overtime going on there.

If I were the commander of that critical incident, I would fold it. Six failed days of negotiations and begging and cajoling? With no yield? And my very own valuable emergency response personnel in potential jeopardy? People whom I've spent, in training, thousands and thousands of dollars? People that I know, that are quality, that are actual producers and not civilian dregs?

It's way past time to pull the ladder and send fire, emergency and police personnel home to their stations and normal shifts.

That's called triage. These days, budgetary triage.

There is, essentially, "no fixing stupid." Or insane as well.

Either he comes down or he falls to his death. If I were a Tulsa taxpayer I'd insist: pull your ER personnel and start applying them to people and situations who want help and can be helped.

In the very early 70s, when I worked for the Santa Cruz Sheriff's Department (CA), I was sent to an event in the Santa Cruz mountains where a deranged man had called and said he'd kill himself if the police showed up. We were dispatched to the address. When my supervisor was made aware of that call and showed at the scene, Sgt Stony Brook, he cleared us. He said (and logically so): "The man said he'd kill himself if we showed up. So get the hell out."

I say: since there's no fixing stupid, it's time to start spending your ER budgets logically.

If that guy really wants to come down, he will. If he really wants to kill himself, he will.

Big deal. Who cares? I certainly do not. If he falls to his death you call a local fire engine for a washdown. If there were a major thoroughfare directly below, I would be concerned. If there is nothing but hard dirt below, no major concern. Simple as that.

Stop pissing away taxpayer funds for people who don't, by their own purposeful determinations, factor.

There are much larger issues to be addressed every day, by people who deserve help.

BZ

P.S.
And trust me, I'm only writing what the bulk of you are thinking but only a small percentile will have the guts to admit.