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Show Beaver County rates among the highest in police per capita, if you take into consideration con-sideration city police, highway patrol and the Sheriff's office. But just more officers per thousand people does not mean better protection. Just Monday night, a semi -truck setting on Main Street got tapped for several tires and batteries. Several batteries and even an end gate have been heisted from vehicles parked on Main Street in recent weeks. Several burglary attempts have been foiled only by the businesses' own alarm systems. The number of cops per capita doesn't mean much, if they're all home sleeping at the same time as the rest of the town. Would-be burglars have only to check the cops homes to see that they're sawing logs, and then go to work. The hue and cry a few years ago was to add another cop to the force. City Hall did just that. But they didn't add protection. Instead, they added a day cop and a night cop, where before we had one man on duty about the same hours. After finding the front door unlocked about four times in two weeks last summer, the COUNTY NEWS questioned whether the cops were even checking doors on Main Street. For a couple of months after that, Milford police slipped a note under the door everytime they checked. Businesses were pleased. There were no burglary attempts that we know of during this period. Vandalism was at its lowest ebb. Problems throughout the community were at an all-time low. But getting out of the patrol car to check doors, and staying on the job until the community com-munity began to move in the morning was evidently too tough for Milford police . . . but not for the burglars and vandals. Dogs are again becoming a problem. And with new councilmen soon in office, a big push will undoubtedly be made for a leash law. It's always the first subject tackled by new councilmen. But the answer is not in passing new laws we just need the police to enforce the laws we have. Milford ordinances provide for an automatic auto-matic fine of $50.00for any dog running loose at night. We don't think that it will take many such fines for dog owners to confine their animals, or get rid of them. There is no need for a leash law. Citizens have an obligation to file a complaint if a dog destroys their property. Much can be done without new laws that would infringe on law-abiding owners. Strong enforcement of licensing ordinances ordi-nances is necessary. If it costs $30.00 to house a stray bitch, plus a $50.00 fine, residents will make a quick trip to the pound, or call the cops. Ninety-five percent of Mllford's law enforcement problems can be handled between be-tween 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. It's time we began to get protection during those hours. At least 95 percent of dog violations are night time, and almost 100 percent of the dog violators could be controlled through nighttime patrol. Daytime fender-benders could just as well be handled by the sheriff's office or a traffic cop. The COUNTY NEWS does not advocate a return to a single cop. But neither do we condone the present working hours, with several days off at a time, while one cop covers, and the community pays for two. We cannot condone the lack of protec -tion from 2;00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., when the only movement in town is that of the burglar. Mayor Young has the authority to see that the community is protected when it's needed most. The City Council has the authority to take matters into their own hands, if the Mayor and city police don't do the job. We've got three resident highway patrolmen pa-trolmen and they Import a few but the twenty mile stretch of freeway produces enough accidents to make Beaver County second in the state. More even than counties with many more miles of freeway andother roads. It also produces one of the highest per mile ratios of traffic tickets in the state. Beaver County has purchased at least one radar unit for each traffic cop. There are five men in the sheriff's de -' partment, up from three just three years ago, and down from six just recently. Beaver City has five (our last figures) police, and Deputy Craw doubles as city marshal in Minersville. COUNTY NEWS figures add up to about 15 law enforcement officers in the county. That's between four and five officers per thousand population, depending upon whose census figures you use. That's more than Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, New York . City, Chicago and Washington, D. C. "Red" |