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Supervisors must pick right priorities

Paul Belcher
Published: October 18, 2008

It’s a clear equation: Bad times = high crime. Mr. Singstock is on target with his letter taking the County Board of Supervisors to task for cutting the public security budget on par with social entitlements.
While the board may think they are prisoners of the economic moment, as Singstock suggested, the people may become prisoners of criminal behavior.

We need the leadership and vision we’ve enjoyed in the past from Supervisors Maureen Caddigan, Corey Stewart and John Stirrup.

They should mandate prioritization that gives full weight to fundamentals. In this case, the full weight should be given to the most fundamental — public security.

At least two empirical facts are in play. The first fact is that both violent and property crime rises in bad economic times.

The second is, like water, criminals follow the route of the least resistance.

First, county police and prosecutors must continue to aggressively pursue criminals. Secondly, those citizens that can, must be given more, not less, respect in their efforts to defend themselves.

In short, the order of the day should be less dickering with criminals on charges and more slamming jail doors behind them. Perhaps criminals will go to other localities that have cut public security
spending.

PAUL BELCHER

Dumfries

Reader Reactions

Posted by ( do the right thing ) on October 22, 2008 at 6:28 am

PHEDEE and KG- MESHUGENEH (YIDDISH FOR MAD,CRAZY,INSANE FEMALE)

You have lost you mind referring to Holocaust Survivors as possibly camp guards or members of the Nazi Party. Don’t insult the good people of the Jewish faith with your anti-Semitic remarks.You are obviously intellectually challenged on the subject of the Holocaust, so why not take a visit to the U.S. Holocaust Museum and learn more about the victims of the Holocaust.

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Posted by ( phdee ) on October 21, 2008 at 7:50 am

dtrt: I was thinking about your Holocast survivors, your family members. You offered very very little info about them. However, if they are insulted because of my free speech criticism of our elected officials, then I must say they appear to have tendencies toward leaning or support of facist, communist, or other totalitarian or dictatorial govts. Perhaps they lived where the Holocast was occurring, but were not the targets. Perhaps some worked as guards at the camps. You know we in the US have many cases of Nazis who came here using lies who worked for the Nazis, and were deported. Also, the US govt brought lots of Nazi scientists, especially rocket experts, to the US after the war’s end. So maybe - I’m just guessing - that we have something similar here like that, where they fondly remember the dictatorships.

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Posted by ( kgotthardt ) on October 21, 2008 at 6:15 am

phdee, you’re getting the initials wrong: it’s DiRT.

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Posted by ( phdee ) on October 21, 2008 at 3:28 am

ejben: And where did you get your erroneous information?

There just aren’t enough hispanics (illegsls) and subprime loans to spread around to get the blame for the financial meltdown.

here is more than enough blame to go maround for BOTH political parties, all political administrations, Congress, states, cities, Wall St., banks, investors, citizens, financial institutions, Fannie, freddie, etc.

The main reason is greed and an orgy of excessive spending beyond ability to pay.

Spend, spend, spend. After deregulation was abolished, the public was conned into a gigantic credit and spending spree, in an “asset” driven economy. Overpriced housing became an asset for phony wealth acquisition. Take the inflated equity our and by SUV’s, furniture, vacations, etc. There was no end.

The Wall St and financial institutions dreamed up all these schemes. Inevitably it had to burst. And it did. No, it wasn’t simply housing and immigrants. It was plain old greed, stupidity, and free markets unregulated.

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Posted by ( phdee ) on October 21, 2008 at 3:16 am

DTRT: I just can’t be intimidated by your threats, hate, etc. I could care less that your Holocast family survivors don’t like my comments abvout elected officials. Perhaps they are ignorant of the fact this country has free speech. Do they speak English? Are they able to read and minimally interpret or understand the Constitution?

Sorry, goon boy, I have already served my country in the Army. I have an honorable discharge. What did you do?

Sorry you don’t understand that as a US born citizen I have the right to free speech, to criticiz the govt. as well as other freedoms. Too bad you don’t like that. Maybe you could run for a Republican office, on the Bush platform.

The resolution WAS an ethnic cleansing move by the BOCS. Make no mistake about it.

You should be carefule and not play a Joe McCarthy role of calling people communists. you should remember - an tell your Holocast family - there are laws against slander and libel. If you think I’m a commies, then proove it right here on this website. I say you don’t have the courage, strength or courage to even attempt. So just shut up your hot air balloon mouth.

Flowers bloom go to see, and then come back up the next season. Ah the beauty of it all!!!

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Posted by ( kgotthardt ) on October 20, 2008 at 3:58 pm

—Regardless, it will make Chairman Stewart and Supervisor Stirrup’s sales pitch to other jurisdictions a good bit more difficult since they won’t be able to claim a ‘20% drop in crime’ since the implementation of the ‘Immigration Resolution’.—

Anti, they will claim it anyway. Lying doesn’t bother them.

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Posted by ( AntiBVBL.net ) on October 20, 2008 at 3:56 pm

Mr. Belcher hasn’t paid attention to the Prince William County Republican mantra over the past year that it’s supposedly ILLEGALS that cause increased crime statistics.

Now here’s their problem - ‘illegals’ have left but the crime statistics haven’t gone down. So, they are now forced to find another justification for the leveling off of the crime rate which has been provided in our current economic downturn.

Regardless, it will make Chairman Stewart and Supervisor Stirrup’s sales pitch to other jurisdictions a good bit more difficult since they won’t be able to claim a ‘20% drop in crime’ since the implementation of the ‘Immigration Resolution’.

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Posted by ( fordham ) on October 20, 2008 at 6:43 am

What has become very clear is that the Board of County Supervisors needs a clear leader - one with vision and the ability to work with the other 7 supervisors. One of the current 8 has to come forward and establish themselves as a leader - one who can work with the entire BOCS to establish consensus - not jam things through; one who has the concern of the County citizenry at heart - not what his or her policial party is concerned about. We don’t have this type of leadership on the BOCS right now and it is absolutely imperative that we see it soon. Who has the vision and leadership skills to guide PWC out of the economic quagmire we are in now? If you think it’s a current Supervisor, think again.

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Posted by ( do the right thing ) on October 20, 2008 at 5:21 am

Phedee Wacko:

I am tired of your comparison of our resolution to ethnic cleansing. MY family members are Holocaust survivors and are insulted by your comments and your disparaging remarks of our elected leaders.

PHDEE- Spend time in Communist China or Darfur and maybe you would have a better appreciation of the United States. Serve your country rather than attack its leaders? Commies like yourself should find a home outside of
the United States.

Flower children like yourself have turned into a bunch of blooming idiots.

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Posted by ( jm6811 ) on October 19, 2008 at 7:12 pm

“We need the leadership and vision we’ve enjoyed in the past from supervisor Corey Stewart and John Stirrup”,Paul, can you tell me another good joke?

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