Are PTC police too soft? Or just too busy harassing citizens to catch the real bad guys?
I was reading in the paper about the robbery that took place at the PeachMac store at The Avenue on Jan. 26. And how the police were able to pursue the suspect’s vehicle that left the scene, but terminated their pursuit along North Peachtree Parkway because the suspect was driving recklessly.
Now this got me thinking: Did the police stop pursuit because they thought maybe innocent people might get hurt? Well, it was 2 a.m. on Peachtree Parkway, not many people out at that time of the morning, or was it because they figured it’s not worth getting the police car or themselves hurt for the $40,000 that they make a year?
The reason I can say this is because of the countless cases that the police in this city have not been able to catch the real bad guys when there has been risk of serious injury involved.
Case in point: Last year suspect shoots victim in condos off Peachtree Parkway, escapes on foot with gun by way of three ponds, police unable to catch suspect at that time.
2. Suspects beat down and killed victim in front of Red Room bar, police unable to catch suspects at that time.
3. June 28, 2008, 2:36 am. Suspect steals victim’s work vehicle in PTC. The victim leads police to suspect’s home, where they find the vehicle in the driveway. The intoxicated man flees the house through the woods on foot. The victim asks police if they are going to pursue the suspect. Officers said no, he may have a weapon that we don’t know about and somebody may get hurt.
I’m sorry, but I thought that was the job of law enforcement to catch the bad guys. I say if this had happened in Atlanta, they would not have given up the pursuit so easily.
We have all seen “Cops” on TV where they run the bad guys off the road with their cars and use tack strips to blow out their tires for lesser offenses.
As a citizen of Peachtree City, I see all the time where the police are harassing innocent citizens. Whether its speeding traps on Ga. Highway 74 or police on Ga. Highway 54 at the Walmart entrance or pulling people over because they think their window tint is too dark.
And God forbid you drive an old beat-up truck or van — that’s a sure way to get pulled over.
Policing in Peachtree City has become a money-making business. And we need to go back to the days when the officers’ job was to “Protect and Serve.”
Ask yourself when the last time was you saw an officer helping serve someone, rather than harassing someone.
In my opinion the PTC police are too soft, and they have gotten used to their cushy job, and when there is real crime — not speeding tickets — they are too afraid they might break a nail or actually have to get out and earn that paycheck that we the people pay them with our taxpayers’ dollars.
With that being said, I know there are a lot more residents that are tired of the over-policing. I also know people that have moved away for that same reason and a lot more that would like to. It’s a sad day when the police are driving away the good citizens that pay their salaries, just to make a dollar.
Name withheld
