Giving officers incentives or requiring them to live in the city that they work in is a good idea, however it may not have as much as an impact as you may think.
As a reserve officer with the Minneapolis Police reserve, our uniforms are almost identical to that of the sworn officers, however when I used to live on LaSalle and would have to walk to my vehicle to attend an event (while in uniform), there were still people either drunk, stoned, smoking marijuana, etc... and would see me and continue doing what they were doing. In most cases, my vehicle was targeted by thieves because they figured that they could steal my uniform, vest, equipment and or gun (reserve officers are not allowed to carry firearms by law). As a matter of fact, I was approached by some idiot and asked to "party" one night. Also, gang members would watch me and was sure that they knew where I lived. In some gangs, gang members that shoot police officers move up in rank or get respected in their gangs because for them, thats one less cop on the streets to bother them. Also for Officers with families, gang members will target the wives or children just to get at an officer. This is not an excuse, nor am I being a defeatest about the problem. Russell Sasaoka Coon Rapids (Formerly of Loring Park) Get your free Web-based E-mail at http://www.startribune.com/stribmail REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
