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Make Mendocino County Safer

To Make Mendocino County Safer, Put Your Thoughts on Paper!

In case you haven’t heard, Realty World Selzer Realty is sponsoring a contest again this year, offering $500 to the winner in each of the five supervisorial districts for the best idea on how to make Mendocino County safer. He sponsored a contest last year that was just centered on Ukiah, and it brought in dozens of entries.

The deadline for submissions is November 16, so get your thinking caps on.

Most of us who live in Mendocino County love it here. And many of us who live here do not see the violence or the danger that threatens us, unless we are approached by an aggressive panhandler. Transients who come through Mendocino County do not consider it their home, but they bring violence and drugs to our communities. This is one of the problems I would most like to solve.

Dick Selzer said, ““We have real-world limitations, like budget and personnel. Wild ideas can be fun to consider, but practical ideas with a high chance of success and implementation are what we need. We have to consider not only what to do, but how to make it happen here in Mendocino County.”

Contest submissions don’t have to be essay style. Dick said a list of bullet points is good enough for him. It’s the ideas that matter.

Those of us who have lived here a while know Mendocino County is not the same place it was years ago; and when it comes to safety, we’re going in the wrong direction. I really hope some of you consider submitting your ideas about how to make Mendocino County safer.

Right now, police officers and sheriff’s deputies deal with violent felons, mentally ill people who are a danger to themselves and others, couples who engage in domestic violence, thieves, and others who you wouldn’t want to be close to. Men and women in law enforcement are trained to be on high alert all the time, so when something goes wrong, they aren’t caught off guard. It’s hard to keep this level of vigilance up when you’re tired from working overtime because there simply aren’t enough officers to go around.

Dick Selzer said he would like to eliminate the need for more officers. So would I! Right now, local police stations and the sheriff’s office struggle to keep up with all the calls that come in. Many local officers have heavier workloads than officers in other cities, and that’s not healthy for them or for our community in the long run. In recent years, UPD officers haven’t had time to do important community policing, because they’ve been too busy dealing with violent crimes.

Please consider submitting a contest entry. If you thought you had to be some kind of brilliant writer, now you know you don’t! Just be creative and if you can, be practical. Maybe you’ll think of something that inspires another idea in someone else, and together we’ll come up with solutions that cost less and produce more than we’ve been able to so far. What would make people think twice about committing a crime? Why are people committing crimes in the first place? Is there some simple solution we’ve missed? Is there a way for people to work together to make a big job seem smaller?

Some people think scary consequences will reduce illegal behaviors; others try to go upstream to figure out why problems occur in the first place. I think both can be effective.

If you want details about the competition, you can pick up information at Realty World Selzer Realty or send an email to safemendo@gmail.com. You’ve got nothing to lose. Put your thoughts on paper and you might win $500.

As always, our mission at UPD is simple: to make Ukiah as safe as possible. If you have suggestions on how we can improve please feel free to call me. If you would like to know more about crime in your neighborhood, you can sign up for telephone, cell phone and email notifications by clicking the Nixle button on our website: www.ukiahpolice.com. 

 


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