13 Jul 2010
0 CommentsWhy Are Some Towns Getting Rid of Their Police Force?
July 17, 2001
This article from AolNews took me a little by surprise. I knew that towns, and even whole states are feeling the financial crunch right now…but I had no idea that you could disband a town’s police force to save some money. It seems that San Luis, Colorado and various other towns are looking to cut costs by cutting out law enforcement.
Around the country…towns — large and small — are also eliminating their police departments. The Los Angeles suburb of Maywood, Calif., fired its officers, as did rural Bethel, Maine. Near Pittsburgh, Fallowfield, Pa., also voted to disband its police department.” – http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/penny-pinching-towns-put-police-out-to-pasture/19550879
It seems that the job of sheriff is going to take the place of full law enforcement in some places like it was back in the day. Although I’m sure many, including myself, would rejoice at a firing of a full police force, there’s a few things to take into account. One is, police are an important and necessary part of any town or city. We don’t live in a society where people can police themselves, know the difference between right and wrong, and are not afraid to stand up for their fellow-man. Until we do, it’s imperative that we have a police force. Yea, some of them are really, really fucked up, but not all of them. There has to be somebody you can call when shit gets bad.
On the other hand…police are expensive. And the bad cops are even more expensive (due to lawsuits and whatnot that arise from their actions). I can understand why some smaller towns would feel that it’s alright to get rid of them. Not so much for the larger places. In this country, when there’s a large enough gathering of people in one place…it’s definitely necessary to have some sort of law enforcement around, regardless of the cost.
See also: Bethel Votes To Disband Police Department
Thoughts?
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16 Jan 2012
3 CommentsThe John Cleaver Series by Dan Wells
The John Cleaver series is a trilogy of books by author Dan Wells. They are supernatural horror/thriller novels labeled as Young Adult fiction. Even though they feature the exploits of a fifteen-year-old kid, don’t let the YA designation fool you. These books are full of terrible things happening to people of all ages…for your entertainment.
I heard of these books while listening to the Writing Excuses podcast, of which Dan Wells is one of the cast. He often speaks about the writing process by referring to his first novel, I Am Not a Serial Killer. In fact, it’s probably the title of the book that made me want to read it more than anything else did.
These books are about John Cleaver, a fifteen-year-old kid in a small town with an obsession for serial killers. He lives over the mortuary where his mother and aunt works and even takes part in the embalming process with them. Diagnosed as a sociopath by both himself and his therapist, he tries to cope with being different.
Everything takes a turn when an actual serial killer shows up in town and starts murdering people. This excites John and sends him on the trail of the killer. At the same time, his own inner monster comes to life. He does not know if he wants to catch the killer, or participate.
I have already written some reviews of all three books in the series so I am not going to get into a lot of little details:
One thing you need to know is that this is a “supernatural” horror/thriller. I only stress this because, apparently, people seem to become upset when the story goes from being pure thriller material to supernatural horror.
There is one thing about the series that I find a little unsettling. There seems to be an overall lack of emotion. This is understandable from them main character’s point of view. After all, he’s a sociopath. But over the course of three books, there are several serial killers killing and a multitude of suicides…all in less than a year. You would think that in a small town, these things would make people a little…edgy. The situation comes up a bit in the third book, but overall, it seems as if nobody really cares about all these atrocious murders happening. That’s only a small concern of mines. These books are fun, enjoyable, entertaining and very easy to read.
If possible, you should get all three books and read them back to back. Each novel takes place almost immediately after the last. And since they are all fast reads, you won’t have to wait to get right into the next installment.
The Story Continues
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