Listen to Huntington Police Capt. Hank Dial. He speaks the truth.
The 20 or so homicides in Huntington this year did not involve random victims.
Most of them were drug-related. In fact, when you combine the drug-related homicides and the homicides involving husbands and wives and boyfriends and girlfriends, that will explain all of them.
Frankly, it's good for citizens to convene at Huntington City Hall and go berserk. Yelling and screaming can be healthy as long as it doesn't turn violent.
So the Wednesday night session before City Council let many citizens get built-up anger off their chests. I'm sure it wasn't fun for Capt. Dial or members of City Council or Mayor Steve Williams. But what they faced goes along with the job.
There was much "weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth," as the Bible describes it. There were some who offered answers to the drug-homicide apocalypse Huntington finds glued to the city.
Most of the solutions proffered Wednesday night would cost many millions of dollars and require massive changes in the law. But the city would still have an overwhelming drug problem brought on by the simple law of supply and demand.
Where is the city going to get the millions to perhaps make a dent in the problem when most city folks threaten to riot when a dollar increase in the user fee is even mentioned?
Homicide with a gun is perhaps the most difficult crime to control. Years ago, I had a retired policeman lay it on me.
"I might be standing shoulder to shoulder with a man who has murder on his mind," the old cop explained. "The man he wants to kill is six feet away. I might suspect or even know he has a gun. But unless I have a very good reason to search him for a weapon, I will have fewer than two seconds after he pulls the gun out of his pocket to get the gun away from him before he shoots to kill."
It's one of the main reasons I could never be a cop.
All police can do is try to control the drug trade. And under the current circumstances, Huntington police are hobbled by an obvious lack of personnel.
Currently there are 89 in the city's police force. Council has approved slightly more than 100 officers, but Dial says it takes 18 months to transform a newbie into an officer. The West Virginia Police Civil Service law is the supreme authority in such matters.
But I doubt 102 police officers are enough. Charleston has nearly 200 officers and it appears that's not enough.
Huntington's drug-homicide problem is perhaps the most serious problem the city has ever faced. And it appears the problem has not peaked, nor is it likely to peak anytime soon.
So what can city folks do? Stay away from places where drugs are dealt. If you see something, say something. Tell a police officer about drug dealing in your neighborhood. And keep complaining until the police respond. It may take some time. Huntington police are overwhelmed by the drugs and the obvious drug war that's causing most of the homicides.
Bring on the National Guard, the feds, the State Police, anyone who might temporarily interrupt the flow of heroin and other poisons. Don't breathe a sigh of relief too early. Don't let your guard down.
And if you must blame someone, blame yourself for ignoring the problem for far too long.
from Don T Breathe - Google News http://ift.tt/2B0I1Fa
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