Advice from a small town girl

As I was meeting with Town Marshal Mike Wren early Tuesday afternoon to review the week’s incident reports, a residential burglary was taking place on North Division Street.

In broad daylight.

At least two and possibly three people in a small gray extended-cab pickup pulled up to a residence.

A neighbor saw two people removing items from the house.

He didn’t call 9-1-1. He didn’t get a license number. He didn’t get a close enough look at the vehicle to provide make or model.

When the resident came home that afternoon, he discovered that the back door had been kicked in and several items had been taken.

The call came over the scanner just after I returned to my desk.

What????

Now, I don’t know why the neighbor didn’t call the police. I suspect he doesn’t know why he didn’t call the police.

I do know that it’s really easy, from the vantage point of the rest of us, to second-guess his actions, and to assume we would have called the police.

That may or may not be true.

Odessa seems to have been suffering under the weight of a crime tsunami (in the desert, of all places!) over the past few weeks.

Citizens are frustrated.

Town government is frustrated.

Law enforcement is frustrated.

That’s where we are.

Where do we want to be?

First, a note to citizens: This is not an episode of “CSI Odessa.” The town marshal’s office is working hard on each and every incident, regardless of whether you see them doing it or not. Just one recent case has absorbed more than 60 man-hours already. Progress has been made, but no arrests yet.

Be patient.

Second, a note to town government: It seems to me, just from casual conversations, that there might be a lack of communication between key players here. I know that there are two council members who serve on the law enforcement committee (although I have to confess that I don’t know the real name of the committee), and I think that the marshal and deputy marshal report to the mayor. You all need to step up to the plate.

Talk to each other. Have regular, brief meetings to keep each other apprised of the situations as they come up. How about 11 a.m. every other Thursday?

Third, a note to law enforcement: Thank you!

I know that you’re under-appreciated. I’m pretty sure that’s universal for law enforcement.

Fourth, another note to law enforcement: Educate us! I’ve heard that when we “gossip” and share information relating to crimes that have happened here, we are actually impeding the investigation into those very crimes. WE DON’T KNOW THAT! You, as law enforcement personnel, have it within your power to change how we react to crimes.

I’ve heard disbelief that a crime could go on virtually under someone’s nose without them taking action. My response to that is: Educate us!

Offer one (or, preferably more) community meetings we could all attend to learn:

How to protect ourselves and our belongings.

How to identify suspicious behavior and/or people.

How not to be afraid of getting involved, or of retaliation.

How to not be the boy who cried wolf.

How WE can help YOU.

And thank you.

Finally, a note to all of us; citizens, officials, police and criminals: We know where we are. We know where we want to be.

And we can make it happen.