Regarding a letter from Charles Davidson dated May 18, 2013 entitled “In support of local police”, I would like to offer a different point of view.
All law enforcement put their lives on the line for all of us. That should include the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) and the Superior Police department (SPD), and all other law enforcement agencies across the U.S. It’s their jobs; officers are aware of that the first day they apply.
The SPD is in a defunct situation because their budget is shot. Superior is in a money crunch throughout all of Superior, both residents and town budget. Future sustainability is once again on the line.
SPD officers not living in town and with no plans to move to Superior are a major contribution to their empty budget. They are allowed to drive Superior police cars back and forth to home, work and who knows wherever. How many other working people who drive out of town to work every day get to use their company’s car at home or wherever? The thought is absurd, so why should we allow our officers to do that? What do you think the amount of wear-and-tear, tires and gas has been?
Pinal County Sheriff’s department will take care of that in their proposal. They also furnish vehicle repair. SPD doesn’t have the means or a person on board to do that.
The cost of having SPD come up to par and to include the other 15 things PCSD is offering would be almost twice what PCSD is asking, plus the SPD officers will have to live in Superior.
If you and others would look at this debate with an open mind, make your own pros and cons list for each agency, and foremost, take your personal feelings out of the equation and make sensible decisions, this conflict and issue should not be personal. Rather, see this decision as strictly business and what would be the best thing for our bucks.
Superior, this is not rocket science. Look at what you have now, with no funds to rebuild anything, and if they even tried, they won’t come close to what our Pinal County law enforcement offers.
Thank you all for your time and hopefully for choosing the right protection for our community.
Sincerely,
/s/ Sandra Doyle