I've been pondering whether to mention this Standard-Examiner story, which appeared in yesterday's edition. The large wide-angle photo image was the first thing that caught my eye as I retrieved my newspaper in the pre-dawn darkness yesterday morning; and I assumed at first, (as many other Std-Ex readers may have done,) that this grim-visaged group of heavily-armed local law-enforcement's finest was in hot pursuit of an armed and dangerous felon -- or possibly Osama bin Laden himself. (Photo by Robert Johnson/Standard-Examiner.) This photo image has been "cropped," by the way. The original hard-copy edition showed two additional equally grim-visaged and well-armed law enforcement officers to the right of the photo.It wasn't until I got back inside the front door and into the indoor light that I actually caught the article headline: "Shoplifters Focus of Riverdale Hunt."
I'll incorporate a few of Shane Farver's opening paragraphs:
RIVERDALE -- It was a show of force worthy of hunting down a gang of the most-hardened criminals.
Twelve officers, some carrying automatic weapons, from five Top of Utah police agencies, two dogs and a helicopter combed the woods near the river parkway in Riverdale Wednesday afternoon.
Their quarry? Teenage shoplifters.
"We were giving chase and decided to use the resources available," said Riverdale Lt. Dave Hansen in explaining the heavy turnout of law enforcement.
You can read rest of the thrilling story about the big Riverdale dragnet here.
At first I brushed this story off as just another particularly trivial example of bureaucratic overkill -- employing sledge-hammers, where fly-swatters would do. After a day's hindsight however, I think this story has implications that go far beyond mere bureaucratic silliness. In an era where law-enforcement dollars are tight, I think the citizens of Riverdale need to ask themselves why it was necessary for the City of Riverdale's "watch-commander" to call in officers from five police agencies, together with two dogs and a helicopter, to apprehend four terrified teenagers who'd already bungled a petty property crime. It's a question of proportion, I think; and I'm pretty sure somebody is going to bring this story up the next time some local law enforcement official starts crying the "dress blues" over funding shortages.
Don't get me wrong on this. I'm very sympathetic to the needs of local law-enforcement. I think however, the City of Riverdale needs to take a long hard look at the management-level personnel who were responsible for this situation. Lt. Dave Hansen didn't do his brother and sister officers any favors in this circumstance, it seems to me. I wonder how many law-enforcement dollars were expended in connection with this Keystone Kops event?
What about our gentle WCF readers? Does anyone have any thoughts or comments on this?
As an added bonus for Grondahl fans in the hinterlands, I'm also incorporating this morning's excellent cartoon, which also addresses this topic:
Click to enlarge
