Thoughts from Chief Sjolander... A cop and a politician are in a bar... I was sitting in a local bar this past week with my wife and some friends when a person walked up to me and gave me their business card. It had their name and stated they are running for political office at our state level. Its really not an important part of this post, but Ill share with you all that I stopped drinking awhile ago. So if you have a vision of me half on or off a bar stool, let me assure you all that I was sober. When the person asked what I do for a living, I told them, and like with most politicians, the conversation went to them telling me that if they are elected, they will work hard so we have more officers and better laws. Here is the response I give all politicians. We in Kenyon are not getting more cops. We have three full time officers and a handful of part time officers who fill in while the full timers are on vacation, sick, at training, or like now when we are short a full timer. As for more laws, how about we work on enforcing the ones we have now. We dont need more laws, we need to help those that suffer with serious mental illness, addiction, and holding serious offenders accountable for their poor choices. I told this person that in my long career, I know that when it comes to addressing the needs of those who are mentally ill or suffering with addiction, and in need, we fail and if they dont believe me, ride a long with a peace officer or two and see how frustrated everyone gets when you cant help them or a family member because we lack resources. I think about the time a person came into our office, admitted they had a serious narcotics addiction and needed to seek help right away. I transported them to a large medical center in our area and after sitting with them for a few hours, they were given a pamphlet with treatment centers to call. They said they called all these places before and were told it could take months to get in. The medical staff said that since they were not in crisis nothing could be done right now. I brought them home... The person running for office and I visited for a few minutes longer and they left. Im not interested in running for any office. Im in the public eye enough and I cuss when Im mad. Id be on YouTube all the time and Id make a lousy politician. Maybe next time Ill have a headline that reads...A cop and a Nun are in a bar... Stay safe, Lee
Posted on: Sun, 08 Jun 2014 18:36:45 +0000
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