AR_Forever
06-12-2008, 15:06
I saw this on another forum and thought I would post.
Anyone heard the scoop on El Paso parking patrol cars. According to this article sounds like they will only be responding to emergency calls at night.
The opinion also has some good points on personal protection with tight fuel budgets.
http://www.gazette.com/opinion/city_37232___article.html/public_fuel.html
BENEFITS OF HIGH-COST FUEL
Through hardship emerges strength
The fuel crisis threatens our country, but it's not all bad. Example: El Paso County Sheriff's deputies will park their cars at night, rather than driving around patrolling for crime.
Sometimes through hardship emerges strength. Energy inflation, for example, has forced millions to consider alternatives to the lease-a-life practice of sending money to a public utility in return for the family's power and heat. It's a risky lifestyle, as home energy is crucial and third-party providers can jack prices or flip the switch at any time.
In these times of economic turbulence, consumers are seeking options to generate their own power, mostly from the sun, which can result in the power company sending a check rather than receiving one. Once a tree-hugger hobby, solar has become a source of freedom. In Colorado, power companies must pay households that backfeed the grid.
Other resourceful Americans are installing woodstoves and collecting dead timber to heat their homes. People are freeing themselves from cars and experiencing the joy of buses, bikes and trains.
And soon, we'll likely see a new self-reliance for personal safety and security. It will be a positive move away from the dangerous 911 mentality that has infected our culture for the past three decades with a false notion that police can get there in time to stop crime. Typically, they can't. They can't be everywhere at once. Victims, not cops, are best situated to fight crime.
Fuel Prices have become so oppressive that Sheriff Terry Maketa has no option but to park his patrol cars. In 2000, the sheriff's department budgeted about $160,000 a year for fuel. This year, with driving reductions in place, Maketa expects fuel costs to exceed $700,000. Drive all night, and costs would approach $1 million this year.
The sheriff's department can't afford to cruise. And no, it's not evidence of a need for new taxes. Citizens have their own tanks to fill. Instead of getting raises, they're getting pink slips. They cannot afford to have officers burning fuel nonstop at $4-plus a gallon. Maketa should be applauded for acknowledging this.
Maketa says the new policy will mostly affect the night shift, as dayside deputies work emergencies all day. The stationary patrol cars will run only when called to emergencies, or when engine power is needed to recharge batteries of handheld radios. Even that should be curtailed. Rather than running giant car engines to charge tiny batteries, the county should supply officers with multiple batteries, portable pre-powered chargers, or multiple charged radios. Considering the price of gas, any investment in efficient charging equipment could pay off in a few short weeks, or even days.
The parked cars won't only save gas, they'll solve another problem facing the sheriff's department. In 2006, a law enforcement consultant noted that El Paso County deputies have difficulty completing written reports because of their heavy workloads. In an e-mail to a constituent Wednesday, Maketa explained that incomplete paperwork has been a "huge problem" that will likely be resolved because of time afforded deputies as they sit idle.
Like it or not, we can't live business-as-usual when oil thugs decide to tighten the screws on us. Adjustments must be made. We cannot possibly afford to continue the luxury of deputies patrolling streets 24/7, no more than we can afford regular Sunday drives and long-distance trips in SUVs.
The idle patrol cars mean county residents need to take more personal responsibility to protect themselves, their children and their properties - a better system of genuine public safety. This may come in the form of dogs, fences, alarms, better locks and doors, weapons training, neighborhood watch organizations, family curfews and a variety of other lawful options for personal protection. Maketa has long advocated that citizens obtain concealed weapons permits, explaining that police can't be everywhere.
The energy crisis demands that individuals rely more upon themselves, and less upon third party oil dictators, public utilities, and roving law enforcement. In that sense, at least, the high cost of fuel may strengthen us all.
CITY SHOULD SELL SPONSORSHIPS
This column has long urged public schools to sell naming rights to gymnasiums, parking lots, football stadiums, lunchrooms and even classrooms. Sponsorships could provide revenue with few strings attached. In times of prosperity, public servants laugh at the prospect and brush it aside with expressions of distaste for commercializing schools.
Colorado Springs officials, by contrast, have awakened to the fact that each city vehicle, park, park bench, ball field, employee uniform, and city event is an opportunity to help businesses large and small make money. City officials this week requested proposals from agents who might desire to sell sponsorships of city events and property. And that could mean big money for the city, driven by prosperity and choice, rather than by the force of more taxation.
Parks Director Paul Butcher thinks sponsorships could be worth millions each year. It's easy to believe. A city ball field, for example, is a public focal point. What better way for a sporting goods retailer to reach a target audience than to sponsor baseball scoreboards with ads for baseball shoes? Imagine the appeal of reaching parents of small children by sponsoring swing sets at a park. And it doesn't all need to be commercial. A grieving widower, for example, might choose to memorialize his wife by purchasing a plaque on the couple's favorite park bench. The city's sales agent should get creative. Ads above urinals, for example, could promote the latest prostate drug.
Some say commercializing public space shows bad taste. So what? Local governments clamoring for new taxes, which cause more hardship for the poor, tastes far worse. As for legitimately tasteless messages, the city would be free to reject them. Commerce is good for communities. If the city has viable commercial space, it should be sold. Public schools should follow suit.
Anyone heard the scoop on El Paso parking patrol cars. According to this article sounds like they will only be responding to emergency calls at night.
The opinion also has some good points on personal protection with tight fuel budgets.
http://www.gazette.com/opinion/city_37232___article.html/public_fuel.html
BENEFITS OF HIGH-COST FUEL
Through hardship emerges strength
The fuel crisis threatens our country, but it's not all bad. Example: El Paso County Sheriff's deputies will park their cars at night, rather than driving around patrolling for crime.
Sometimes through hardship emerges strength. Energy inflation, for example, has forced millions to consider alternatives to the lease-a-life practice of sending money to a public utility in return for the family's power and heat. It's a risky lifestyle, as home energy is crucial and third-party providers can jack prices or flip the switch at any time.
In these times of economic turbulence, consumers are seeking options to generate their own power, mostly from the sun, which can result in the power company sending a check rather than receiving one. Once a tree-hugger hobby, solar has become a source of freedom. In Colorado, power companies must pay households that backfeed the grid.
Other resourceful Americans are installing woodstoves and collecting dead timber to heat their homes. People are freeing themselves from cars and experiencing the joy of buses, bikes and trains.
And soon, we'll likely see a new self-reliance for personal safety and security. It will be a positive move away from the dangerous 911 mentality that has infected our culture for the past three decades with a false notion that police can get there in time to stop crime. Typically, they can't. They can't be everywhere at once. Victims, not cops, are best situated to fight crime.
Fuel Prices have become so oppressive that Sheriff Terry Maketa has no option but to park his patrol cars. In 2000, the sheriff's department budgeted about $160,000 a year for fuel. This year, with driving reductions in place, Maketa expects fuel costs to exceed $700,000. Drive all night, and costs would approach $1 million this year.
The sheriff's department can't afford to cruise. And no, it's not evidence of a need for new taxes. Citizens have their own tanks to fill. Instead of getting raises, they're getting pink slips. They cannot afford to have officers burning fuel nonstop at $4-plus a gallon. Maketa should be applauded for acknowledging this.
Maketa says the new policy will mostly affect the night shift, as dayside deputies work emergencies all day. The stationary patrol cars will run only when called to emergencies, or when engine power is needed to recharge batteries of handheld radios. Even that should be curtailed. Rather than running giant car engines to charge tiny batteries, the county should supply officers with multiple batteries, portable pre-powered chargers, or multiple charged radios. Considering the price of gas, any investment in efficient charging equipment could pay off in a few short weeks, or even days.
The parked cars won't only save gas, they'll solve another problem facing the sheriff's department. In 2006, a law enforcement consultant noted that El Paso County deputies have difficulty completing written reports because of their heavy workloads. In an e-mail to a constituent Wednesday, Maketa explained that incomplete paperwork has been a "huge problem" that will likely be resolved because of time afforded deputies as they sit idle.
Like it or not, we can't live business-as-usual when oil thugs decide to tighten the screws on us. Adjustments must be made. We cannot possibly afford to continue the luxury of deputies patrolling streets 24/7, no more than we can afford regular Sunday drives and long-distance trips in SUVs.
The idle patrol cars mean county residents need to take more personal responsibility to protect themselves, their children and their properties - a better system of genuine public safety. This may come in the form of dogs, fences, alarms, better locks and doors, weapons training, neighborhood watch organizations, family curfews and a variety of other lawful options for personal protection. Maketa has long advocated that citizens obtain concealed weapons permits, explaining that police can't be everywhere.
The energy crisis demands that individuals rely more upon themselves, and less upon third party oil dictators, public utilities, and roving law enforcement. In that sense, at least, the high cost of fuel may strengthen us all.
CITY SHOULD SELL SPONSORSHIPS
This column has long urged public schools to sell naming rights to gymnasiums, parking lots, football stadiums, lunchrooms and even classrooms. Sponsorships could provide revenue with few strings attached. In times of prosperity, public servants laugh at the prospect and brush it aside with expressions of distaste for commercializing schools.
Colorado Springs officials, by contrast, have awakened to the fact that each city vehicle, park, park bench, ball field, employee uniform, and city event is an opportunity to help businesses large and small make money. City officials this week requested proposals from agents who might desire to sell sponsorships of city events and property. And that could mean big money for the city, driven by prosperity and choice, rather than by the force of more taxation.
Parks Director Paul Butcher thinks sponsorships could be worth millions each year. It's easy to believe. A city ball field, for example, is a public focal point. What better way for a sporting goods retailer to reach a target audience than to sponsor baseball scoreboards with ads for baseball shoes? Imagine the appeal of reaching parents of small children by sponsoring swing sets at a park. And it doesn't all need to be commercial. A grieving widower, for example, might choose to memorialize his wife by purchasing a plaque on the couple's favorite park bench. The city's sales agent should get creative. Ads above urinals, for example, could promote the latest prostate drug.
Some say commercializing public space shows bad taste. So what? Local governments clamoring for new taxes, which cause more hardship for the poor, tastes far worse. As for legitimately tasteless messages, the city would be free to reject them. Commerce is good for communities. If the city has viable commercial space, it should be sold. Public schools should follow suit.