Last week’s paper brought a cascade of news stories that highlighted several issues affecting the community.

Apparently quite a bit of money was “saved” by the sheriff’s office in the purchase of new weapons for the officers. This would seem to be a step forward but in reality is it actually necessary for every officer to carry an assault rifle? A quick scan of the police blotter would show that domestic violence, property theft, drug/alcohol addiction and mentally unstable homeless people seem to make up the majority of police calls. I don’t see where an assault rifle is going to be useful in these situations.

What we do need is more officers on patrol in the community to handle these unfortunately too common occurrences. When 911 is no longer a reliable way to summon help, something’s seriously wrong in our county (“911 call can’t roust deputy for late-night assault call”).

Maybe when our new sheriff is finally trained in law enforcement he will bring the focus back on peacekeeping (why aren’t street racers being arrested?!) instead of arming officers for combat.

Our population is up (“Pacific #1 in WA for pop gains”) and yet our share of revenues is stagnant (“State House budget stingy with county”). When John Didion was sheriff he spent a lot of time in Olympia lobbying for a variety of law enforcement programs and funding for this county. Some people criticized him for being away — but if that’s what it takes to bring dollars back it has to be part of the job.

A reliable, well-trained, disciplined police presence in this county, 24/7, is not too much to ask.

DEBBY HALLIBURTON

Ocean Park