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City Hall175 East 200 NorthSt. George, UT 84770(435) 627-4000
| November 21, 2009 |
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Too many police officers in St. George Police officers, and most likely many of you, hear others commenting that there are too may police officers driving around. Is this a bad thing? If you are a criminal it is! Criminals don't like it when the police are around. I think, however, the majority of us are happy to know that there is a good police presence in St. George. This is one of the reasons we live here. We want to live in, and raise our kids in, a safe place. One of the reasons it seems that there are so many police officers is because the city officials, like you, want the citizens to feel safe. To do this they allow the police officers to participate in what is called the car-per-man, or the take-home, program. This means that each police officer has a car assigned to him to use. He can use the car both on and off duty. There are many benefits, besides what has already been mentioned, to having off duty police officers drive marked cars. Police officers off duty in St. George have helped to catch many criminals immediately after a crime was committed. One examples was an armed robbery at a local grocery store where the suspect used a gun to rob a checker of the money in her cash register. An off duty police officer saw the suspect vehicle and stopped it leading to the arrest of the driver for armed robbery. Another example was an attempted homicide where the suspect grabbed a girl off her bike, at gunpoint, on the red hill. She was knocked out but eventually fought loose. The suspect shot at the girl as she ran away. This suspect was seen fleeing the scene by an off duty police officer. The Officer called for backup and stopped the suspect leading to his arrest for attempted homicide. There are also many examples of how having an off duty police officer in his police car has helped the community or prevented further problems. We have officers who have stopped dozens of DUI (driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs) drivers. Off duty officers are always stopping and clearing boards, nails, or other clutter off of the roads. Off duty officers are often the first to arrive on the scene of an accident and check for injuries, offer medical attention, and get the roads open. They are often the first on a broken down vehicle and help to get it gas or fix a tire in order to get the vehicle going again. The list goes on and on. Besides helping others, preventing accidents and criminal activity, and arresting suspects for crimes committed; there are still more benefits of the car-per-man program to the city and taxpayers. 1. The cars last longer as they will not be driven as often as a rotated car. 2. It is easier to see if the car is being abused and who is abusing it. 3. When something big happens there are more police cars available. 4. Police officers are police officers 24 hours a day and are required to take action in an emergency. 5. In addition, many police officers are on call 24 hours a day including the SWAT team, Negotiation team, Detectives, Task Force, Accident Team, K-9, and Bomb squad. 6. Officers assigned a specific car take better car of the car. 7. A police car driving down a street or parked in a neighborhood helps to deter crime or slow traffic down. 8. A police car driven to a business and parked in the lot is appreciated by the owner for the same reasons. Even though there are so many benefits, police officers still have people come up to them at the grocery store and complain that they drove there on taxpayer dollars. What most people don't realize is that the police officer pays to use the police car. From each paycheck an officer using a take-home car must pay a portion of the money he would normally keep back to the city for the use of the car. For the 50 or so marked police cars that are out there, police officers are paying about $15,000.00 a year, out of their own pockets, to have the car-per-man program here in St. George. Sergeant David Moss St. George Police Department |
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