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Show y yP7 "ip North pir"Mf y p i1 Viewpoint Davis yy pr A4 ncx& 497-844- 0 444-174- 6 C CopperToday Complete North Davis coverage from Kaysville to Sunset Published by Clipper Publishing Co. 197 North Main Layton, Utah 84041 Monday thru Friday eztalkclippertoday.com Clipper Today is published every Thursday and distributed to residents of Kaysville, Fruit Heights, Layton, Clearfield, Clinton, Syracuse, Sunset, West Point and South Weber. The views expressed in the letters and columns on this page are those of their authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the ownership, management or staff of Clipper Today. Total circulation in excess of 38,000 copies. Publisher: R. Gail Stable Editors: RolfD. Koecher, ;: Martin Tom Busselberg Ehman, Aaron Glauser, Judy Hammerschmidt Display advertising deadline: Friday, 5 p.m. Camera-read- y ad deadline: Monday, 5 p.m. Classified advertising deadline: Tuesday, 10 a.m. A this individual, the Caveman. We to the Clinton are new move-in- s area and now have been educated in one of Clinton's residents. So, fair warning, you have one of these types of individuals living next door to you. We cant help but wonder-does he have a wife, children of his own and does he treat them like this or worse. ..how about the parents he lives with or them him? Hm&z. In a perfect world, we could park cars in our driveways, along city streets, and crowded parking lots without fear of vehicle burglary, vandalism or theft. Obviously, we see our society dictates just the opposite. In fact, Layton City averaged about 1.6 vehicle burglaries per year in 1998. The figures for this year are running about the same. While this number doesn't seem high compared to other cities in Utah, we would rather see the numbers fall than just accept this as the norm for our city. ' Just for clarification, let's explain what constitutes a vehicle burglary. Any person who unlawfully enters any vehicle with intent to commit a felony or theft is guilty of burglary of a vehicle. If damage was done to the car during the vehicle burglary, then you have an included offense called criminal mischief. If the person takes the entire car, you've got vehicle theft. Vehicle theft carries the heftiest penalty (second degree felony), while vehicle burglary is a class A misdemeanor and criminal mischief ranges from class B misdemeanors to second degree felonies, depending on intent and damage amounts. Now lets talk about the crime itself. Three things need to exist for a vehicle burglary to occur. We call this the Triangle of Crime. The triangle is one of the strongest shapes known to man, but without just one side, it has no structural integrity. The three parts of this triangle are Target, Opportunity, and Desire. Imagine yourself as a vehicle burglar, and you're in the market for some totally "rad' stereo components (hopefully this doesnt come naturally). First, you need a target. You have combed the streets looking into cars and listened for those booming systems, and you found just what you wanted. Second, you need the opportunity to get into that car without being caught so you can acquire that awesome system and make it your own. It just so happens that your target in always parked along the road in a dimly lit area, and the doors are usually left open. ; Last, but not least, you need the desire to take the car. Oh yes! You have the desire. A car burglar since age 14, you've scored numerous items and never been caught. Given this set of circumstances, the triangle is complete. Another vehicle burglary is about to go down. Now let's take the victim's viewpoint. If you've ever had your car burglarized, you know exactly how angry and violated you can feel especially if damage was done to your car, which sometimes requires you to drive around with a piece of plastic over what used to be your window. Most likely youll be driving in the rain and snow while you wait for an appointment at your local car dealership. You may feel the officer didn't do enough to solve this crime, or he didn't seem sympathetic to your loss. At any rate, most of us have all asked ourselves these questions. Why me? Why my car? Why dont the police patrol this area more? Isn't Layton a good place to live? There are no simple answers, but there are contributing factors that can affect the outcome. There are ways to contribute to criminal behavior in your neighborhood. More important, there are ways to help prevent the criminal behavior from turning you into a vehicle bursary victim. We like to call this TARGET HARDENING. The premise is simple, but effective. Focus on two parts of the crime triangle that we can impact. The target and the opportunity to hit the target. If you can. park your car in the garage (and close the garage door). If this isn't possible, take valuables out of the car, roll up all the windows, lock the doors (all the time), and park the car in a well lit area you can see from your house or apartment. Car alarms can be an effective deterrent, if they are actually used. Better yet, be part of an active neighborhood watch and mobile watch group where you patrol your own neighborhood and watch out for each other. We realize that doing these things does not guarantee you won't ever be a vehicle burglary victim, but your chances will be substantially reduced. You would be pleasantly surprised at the number of times you have prevented a burglary of your car just by locking the doors. Not all of these crooks are going to break windows and locks. Some just wander through, checking for the easy target. Crime prevention does not get nearly enough credit. Why? We can't measure its success! If only all the crooks in the world would tell us how and for what reasons. many crimes they didn't commit What is the most violent element of our society today? Is it gang activity, or drug activity? Is it the availability of guns on our streets? How about the breakdown of family values? The most violent element in our society is apathy. How can so many people live in one country and not want to take responsibility for two city blocks around where they raise their children? Sure it takes some extra time. You have to get to know your neighbors, and you need to care about your neighborhood. You need to take some time to attend meetings and talk about solutions to problems, other than the lack of police patrol. Contrary to the belief of some, crime is not law enforcement's responsibility. We are all responsible! Society carries this responsibility. Layton City's population is over 60,000 and covers more than 21 square miles. By the year 2010 it could be over 100,000. Layton Police Department currently has 57 sworn officers, with 27 of those officers working patrol shifts. Our busiest time of the day is usually swing shift hours between 2:30 p.m. and 1 1:30 p.m. As we type this article, we have four patrol officers on a swing shift. Without going into further detail about call priority and officer safety issues, we don t have hardly any time to be proactive. In other words, we are usually responding to things that already happened. This is the nature of the beast We could hire 20 more officers, put them on patrol and still not catch all the vehicle burglaries, vandalism and theft in our neighborhoods. We need your eyes and ears. An active neighborhood and mobile watch is the best way to have a significant impact on vehicle burglaries and other crimes in your neighborhoods. Please get involved with your local neighborhood and mobile watch programs. If you don t know where to start, feel free to contact us: 547-137- rr- (Cont.) Public participation is vital in the fight against crime 547-980- -- eztalkIetters Guest opinion Office hours: 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Phone: 0 Fax: 4 CLIPPER TODAY THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 11. 1999 lnamwn i Shawn Horton, Layton Police Department, Scott Quinney Layton Safe Neighborhoods Program Director, ffyf ry r Please, Laughers get your- selves Divine as well as professional help immediately! Anything he touched after handling his feline's feces he contaminated: other candy, his family's food, etc Of course we called Clinton City Police to take care of this matter. An Officer went over to their home to speak to the Caveman but he was at a party. The officer was informed by the mother of the male My son didn't do a F Also, at least three thing. cats live in their''home. This disgusting individual perpetrated on an innocent child of God. We are loving parents and made steps to mend what this vile individual chose to do. And Clinton, some of your finest Blues did more than their part! The Chief of Police came to our home with all the candy left at the Police Dept, and more he bought at a store, replacing the contaminated Trick or Treating candy! A terrific example of decent human beings turning something so horrible and ugly into something kind and compassionate. So eat your heart out Caveman." Our family has other positive male role models like was shown by the Clinton City Police. Oh, by the way Caveman, you and your parents can pick up your feline feces and read the report on you at the Clinton City Police Dept. Conscientious, Responsible and Loing Parents and Citizens of the Community (He are omitting names to protect the innocent) hal-lowe- A Bill The of Rights for restaurant waiters views and servers can spin expressed in this column are the opinion of the great tales of customers who enter restaurants with the sole intent of getting a free meal. From the guy who brings a spider into the writer and not necessarily those of the ownership or man- agement of this restaurant newspaper. drops For many years, the national Zagat surveys have recommended America's restaurants. The surveys annually award plaudits to the best eateries in major cities, and a handful of Salt Lake-are- a restaurants have been named to the proud list. Recently, however, the Zagat folks have rankled some small business owners by issuing another list, a Diners Bill of Rights. Under this list, customers you and I should be empowered to expect restaurants to meet our special dietary requests, to be seated within 10 minutes of an assigned reservation and to be seated away from cellular phones. The Bill of Rights even includes the customer's right to bring his or her own wine into the establishment. I cant quarrel with elevating the standards of restaurants. But if the customers are to be given new rights in which to pester restaurant owners, I think the poor owners, managers and servers should be handed their own list. Here are a few suggested items on the Cyclops Restaurant Owners' Workers' Bill of Rights: THE RIGHT NOT TO HAVE SMALL CHILDREN TURN THE RESTAURANT INTO A PLAYPEN: Managers and servers should not be confused with baby-si- t English has been outlawed in America Editor: It's finally happened: English has been outlawed in America. On August 3, 1999 in El Cenzio, an Hispanic-dominate- d town in southern Texas, passed a law requiring that all official government business be conducted in Spanish, making it illegal to use English for official town business. They then passed a second ordinance pronouncing El Cenzio a safe haven for illegal immigrants, declaring that all city employees and elected officials are forbidden under penalty of being fired or recalled, from assisting the Border Patrol. This is giving sanctuary to that is, to aid and illegal aliens abet foreigners who are willfully breaking the sovereign laws of our country. There are 28 cities and towns 15 miles inside the United States border standing ready to follow El Cenzio if it receives no remonstra-tion- , or butt kicking from those elected officials in charge that can do something if they have the political or they can take courage to do so that well known easy route to follow being politically correct. This definitely will have an effect at the polls in many voting districts throughout the United States. In our 1999 Legislature Rep. Tammy Rowan from Utah County foresaw this incident as a potential in its making, where our legislators were passing laws requiring our dri ters or custodians. Their job description does not include sweeping the floor of crumbled up saltine crackers and picking up green beans tossed by bored kiddies. Parents should not be allowed out the door without first being offered a vacuum to clean up the area destroyed by children. Additionally, restaurant workers should not be expected to herd rambling toddlers back to their tables. Waiters and waitresses work for food service companies. not the Division of Family Services. THE RIGHT TO CALCULATE TIPS FOR THE UNEDUCATED: There is no constitutional right to a tip, but restaurant workers commonly tell horror stories of customers who ring up $80 table charges and then leave three bucks for the server. Utahns particularly seem to have trouble figuring percentages when they leave restaurants: they think that a bill is enough to matically send a deserving waiter or waitress on a Mexican cruise. Either five-doll- ar customers should learn math or servers should bring calculators to the table to embarrass the cheapskates. THE RIGHT TO DISCIPLINE CUSTOMERS WHO ATTEMPT TO DEFRAUD: Owners, managers ving handbook and driving test be printed in Spanish, too, and include this on our American English speaking ballots in our voting booths where we vote. Rep. Rowan introduced House Bill 241, English as the Official Language of Utah. It was defeated as receiving 31 yea votes against 43 nay votes and 1 absentee. The 31 yea votes cast by those dedicated legislators who voted according to the desires of their constituents were: Adair, Alexander, Bigelow, Bryson, Bush, Buttars, Cox D., Dayton, Frandsen, Hatch, Johnson B., Lockart, Murray, Nelson, Olsen, Rowan, Seitz, Snow M., Stephens N., Styler, Swallow, Tanner, Throckmorton, Tyler, Ure, Walsh, Way, Stephens M. Those 43 who cast their nay votes in political posturing for the Chicano vote this coming election were Allen S, Anderson, Arent, Baca, Beck, and it in his salad to the person who eats an entire steak and then complains that the food was awful, there is a small breed of human beings who really believes there is a free lunch and a free dinner, too. Under the Cyclops Bill of Rights, the restaurant staff would have the right to place handcuffs on such thieves and make them work off their meals maybe forcing them to clean up the restrooms in a busy buffet before calling the local police. THE RIGHT TO STOP CUS-- , TOMERS FROM STEALING SUGAR PACKETS: Most customers would never think of stealing a hamburger or a platter of shrimp, but it doesn't both their conscience one bit to stuff their pockets with packets of sugar, catsup or mustard. A Cyclops survey found that the average woman leaving a restaurant had two packs of Equal, one pack of Sweet n Low and four dinner rolls (stashed in her purse!) Under my Bill of Rights, restaurant owners would have the right to station a security guard at the door to search the pock- ets and purses of departing cus- tomers. THE RIGHT TO INSTITUTE THE DEATH PENALTY: This would only be used when an owner or manager spied a customer changing a baby in the dining room. use a new broom and sweep a dirty legislature's floor clean. I have listed those 43 legislators who need to be swept out with the other legislative debris. Paul L. Young, St. George It was a real 'dirty trick' on Halloween Editor: In order for our family to keep the Sabbath Day Holy, we celebrate any of the holidays that land on a Sabbath (Sunday) the day before, like this year with Halloween. We started our Halloween fun on Friday at our children s schools Halloween Parade and class parties. Then on Saturday, our family went to Clinton's Community Halloween Carnival. We had such a blast! To all those that it concerns, you did a fantastic job with the carnival. We finished off the evening with neighborhood Trick or Treating. Our family had a great time and wish to thank those fellow Clinton citizens of whose homes we trusted in going to. Short, Shurtliff, Siddoway. Snow G., Zolman. Iverson D. was absentee. Those 43 plus 1 legislators by Except (unfortunately), to the one home we went to on 16(H) N. block (we aren't supposed to use the exact address). A family of whom we'll name Laugher ( not their last name). We stood on the sidewalk across their lawn from the Laugher's front door where our children stood Trick or Treating. There the male Caveman" (his choice of costume) who lives with his parents, put feline feces in one of American citizens to learn Spanish. Is not the shoe on the wrong foot? It appears to me that there should be 43 legislators back tracking as fast as they can or come this next election the English speaking voters should dropping the candy on the ground to make the child have to pick it up. Can you believe it! But reality hits...all across the lands there have been and unfortunately always will be disturbed and cowardly cases like Becker, Bennion, Biskupski, Bourdcaux, Bradshaw, Brown, Buckner, Buffmire, Carlson, Chard, Cox D, Curtis, Duckworth, Ferry, Fife, Garn, Gladwell, Goodfellow, Gowans, Hansen, Harper, Henrichson, Hickman, Hogue, Holdaway, Johnson K., Jones, King, Koeh, Morgan, Pace, Saunders, their actions are forcing the our children's buckets, as well as Thanks to voters of Woods Cross Editor: I am writing to thank the voters in Woods Cross for giving me an opportunity to serve on the City Council. As part of my campaign. I promised to keep the residents of Woods Cross informed of what is going on. I invite anyone interested in receiving regular updates to me at toddweilerjuno.cotn.' I also want to thank Eva Webster and Lise Tuttle for the community service they have rendered during the past four years. They both ran very good campaigns. The election's slim margin indicates that both Eva and Lise have a lot of support in Woods Cross. I hope they will remain actively involved in city matters and look forward to tapping into their experience and insights. Congratulations to Uffe Traeden and Rick Eamshaw in their successful campaigns. The Clipper erroneously reported on Nov. 4 that I finished second in the voting. In reality, Rick finished second, and I finished third. Rick is very popular, and I do not deserve any credit for his success. Todd Weiler, Woods Cross Money for walls should go to schools Editor: Kudos to Ronald Hubbard (11499) for stepping forward and telling the truth about the soundprison walls. I totally agree with the fact that the walls block out the beautiful view of the cities. During this gorgeous time of the year with the beauty of the various colors of nature, I can hardly see them unless I take the side roads. We teach our children about saving the rainforest and endangered species, how about saving our eyesight? We might as well Ire driving through a tunnel. I have a friend that has the freeway running behind her home and she says that they just got used to it. I ve lived by trains for years, and after a while we hardly noticed them. Perhaps the next barrier to be installed will be one to block out the noise for those who live in the glidepath of the airports. Good luck finding one. I have actually laughed as I drive past the prison walls. It reminds me of The Emperor's New Gothes." Who is trying to pretend-tha- t these are attractive? Who are they trying to fool? I am amazed that UDOT has money for the costly blocks of cement when our school system is in such a poor state. Recently there have been signs popping out all over that say Utah Students Deserve More. It is simply ridiculous that our state can afford prison walls but not smaller classrooms, higher teacher wages or a better education. Toni R. Ha en, Kavsil!e |