Letter: Lack of enforcement leads to crime

Today’s headline features “Official calls mall incident wakeup call.” When hearing of the incident at the mall, I was not surprised. The complacency of the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office will only allow future incidents. We don’t need more laws; we need the laws in place to be enforced.

I have worked with EBRSO officials for the past year to enforce traffic laws and most recently, pyrotechnics regulations in our 320-home subdivision. Repeated calls are always responded to with, “We are short-handed” or “We have our hands full with Gardere” or “It’s impossible to enforce this law” or “There are more important things for us to focus on than speeding and fireworks.”

Once the public learns there is not adequate enforcement or lack of enforcement, they will push the limit every time. Nonessential laws allowed to be broken only lead to more-serious problems. Is the entire city going to become a 70805? Our officials need to become more vigilant, and if the EBRSO needs more officers to enforce the current laws on the books, the mayor and the sheriff should work together to make sure there are more “feet on the street.”

Janet Rhodus

real estate broker

Baton Rouge

Comments

1) Comment by TLS - 10/01/2013

It has always been my understanding that fireworks are illegal in EBR and each year their usage in my neighborhood gets worse. This year it started New Years Eve day at around 9 a.m. with constant firecrackers all day. At dusk, they brought the big ones out. They were going off from all directions so it was not just one group involved. This was not for a 15-30 minute period at midnight, it was all evening and well past 1:30 a.m. I considered calling to report it but as CountryBoysCanSurvive indicated, it did not bring any results. I don't think people would go to the expense to buy them if they knew the law would be enforced. So Ms Rhodus, I get where you are going with your comments.

2) Comment by DMJ - 10/01/2013

Let's put this issue to bed already. Some kids got in a fight and a bunch of other kids crowded around to watch- not exactly a new phenomenon. Anyone see A River Runs Through It? There's a scene (based on real events) from the 1910s in which two kids are fighting and a bunch of other kids are crowded around yelling "fight, fight, fight!!" And this took place before the supposed decay of morality, the breakdown of the family unit and everything else bad that liberals caused in the U.S. in the decades since. Enough already.

3) Comment by [e-mail] - 10/01/2013

Rhodus is off the mark here; mall security was adequate as well as was the response of law enforcement; however if a bunch of criminals suddenly jointly decide to descend enmasse at one spot to create mayyhem in an unsuspecting mall then nothing can be done to prevent it and that's why they do it. What those "kids" did was criminal, not fun, not "cool", and nothing but a sad example of uncontrolled youth running amok.

4) Comment by CountryBoysCanSurvive - 10/01/2013

When I called the Sheriff's office to complain about fireworks the goofus that answered the call wanted an address of the house shooting the fireworks not just the street. I told her that although I wasn't a detective, I would drive down the street and listen for a big boom followed by colorful lights in the sky and that they could solve their case. After 2 complaints the fireworks never stopped...great service Sid.

5) Comment by tradewinns - 09/01/2013

cops on the street are real cops and follow orders. the sheriff & the chief of police are political positions in charge of the police forces. the top dogs will run things. they tell the cops where to go and what to do. like the increase of police in 70805, it will slow the crime rate there not elsewhere cause the cops are there. when the cops return to normal operations, the crooks will also. concentration only works as long as the concentration is applied. want help? BE POLITICAL-GO POLITICAL that works.