COPS progam

Well gang,
    I jumped into the fray here in small town USA last night. Here, in the smallest of incorporated towns in Western Washington, with never over 650 residences, a fight is brewing with local law enforcement, and the Town’s present administrators.
    I attended the Town council meeting last evening. The Town of Pe Ell has an elected Mayor and an elected 5 member council. The town provides water, sewer, cemetery, and a part-time one man police force with an ever increasingly bloated budget with a proposal for a full time force with 24/7 protection (harassment). Of course the tax payers in this community can’t afford a 24/7 full time, 4 or 5 member police force.
    So, big brother, your Uncle Sam has offered COPS grants though the Dept. of Justice for the concept of community policing. I ask these questions: If local law-enforcement officers have their salaries paid by the Federal government, who do they work for? Is this tantamount to the United States Police Force? Local administrators say, no no no, we are in charge of their actions. I question: if push come to shove, who would win that stand-off?
    I guess this might even be acceptable if we had any crime. The lack of crime leads to policing problems. The largest social problems this town has experienced in the past 20 years must fall squarely on the shoulders of those authorizing overly aggressive policing.
    Recently police in this community have been stopping residents for any little infraction, in my opinion, only to check on the occupants, sniff, look, check papers, and what-not.
    This is a sleepy little town with mostly retirees, (of which I am one) no employment base, those still working must commute, and a live and let live environment.
     I had not prearranged to have my concerns placed on the agenda, so I went just to observe. I was not expecting to speak, and was not prepared too, but the Mayor ask if I had any concerns, so I let go. The Council, Mayor, two cops, towns attorney, Town clerk, and two city maintenance worker got an ear full of my disgust with the Towns Marshall’s self aggrandizing request to the Feds for a full-time 24/7 police force.
    I am asking the broader activist community to guide me in the process of informing residences of small communities, they should not be lured by “outside money’s” for local policing when there is no crime to control. Our house is left unlocked most of the time, and we walk the streets at night and have never seen a problem in the community.
    The civilian citizen residences of small town America should not be viewed as suspects, or hassled on their daily coarse of living, raising families, attending school functions, or socializing with friends. Where are we heading, and better yet, how do we turn this around, I ask all?  I am sure the town gathering places are all a chatter this morning concerning my actions last evening. This is not the end of the story and I will surely have more soon.
    
            Civilian Citizen Resident of Pe Ell, Washington;   Ed Saukkooja