The Lansing State Journal’s Derek Melot raises a legitimate question about Mayor Virg Bernero’s most recent crime fighting program for the city. Under a new federally-funded program city cops will become mentors to local kids who need them.
For the Lansing Police Department to be effective, Melot says that the city needs to be clear about its expectation for officers. In addition to crime fighting, we are now asking them to parent our kids. Is that realistic?
Isn’t that similar to the expectation that public school teachers assume a parenting role, along with being a teacher and a social worker. It’s just not realistic.
For the police, Melot raises the point of the police department’s effectiveness in solving everyday crimes like burglaries. They close many cases without ever solving them. It’s those cases that put together, he says that greatly effect a community’s reputation. Check this out. He writes:
While most crime categories have trended the right away, burglaries and robberies have not. And the LPD has a disturbing tendency to close cases without actually solving them – in 2008 alone, 5,589 cases were closed “pending further leads.”
What do you think?
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