Did anybody else see the segment yesterday or the day before on the violence that has taken over this small town of 5000 +. It was on one of the ABCs regional new programs. Quite a bit of new public housing has been trashed by gangs of youths and the behaviour is said to be out of control. Now there is no permanent police presence there apparently, which would be common to a lot of remote or even regional towns. It comes down to money of course.
It occurred to me that we should borrow the American frontier system of law & order if nothing is possible about providing more police. That is, the community could elect a sherriff with power to enforce laws and keep the peace and have the powers to swear in deputies as needed. Of course the head of the police force would have to ratify the appointment, which would probably bring on union trouble.
But something needs to be done to give citizens some security and peace of mind if the nearest police are hundreds of miles away. The other option is for people to take the law into their own hands and arm themselves, but nobody would want that.
