07131003 Hugh Hewitt: Hour 3 – Hugh concludes his three hour conversation wtih Christopher Hitchens about his fantastic new memoir, Hitch-22, and also about life with cancer.
07131002 Hugh Hewitt: Hour 2 – Hugh continues going through the life and times of Vanity Fair Christopher Hitchens, author of the new memoir, Hitch-22
07131001 Hugh Hewitt: Hour 1 – Hugh begins a three hour conversation about the memoir and recently diagnosed cancer illness of Vanity Fair columnist, and author of Hitch-22, Christopher Hitchens.
Oh, great, just fine: Oakland police have released a list of crimes to which they will no longer send a cop. Herewith a partial list. Mind you: partial.
burglary
theft
embezzlement
grand theft
grand theft:dog
identity theft
false information to peace officer
required to register as sex or arson offender
dump waste or offensive matter
discard appliance with lock
loud music
possess forged notes
pass fictitious check
obtain money by false voucher
fraudulent use of access cards
stolen license plate
embezzlement by an employee (over $ 400)
extortion
attempted extortion
false personification of other
injure telephone/ power line
interfere with power line
unauthorized cable tv connection
vandalism
administer/expose poison to another’s
Administer poison to another’s what? Well, assume it’s bad writing. This means they won’t send anyone around if you’ve been poisoned by someone who is standing right there – not even if the person has just burgled your house, stolen something, and is still holding in the non-poison-giving hand a spray-paint can he used to scrawl gang signs on your wall. You could be suffering every single one of the crimes on the list, and you’ll have to report the crime on-line. But you’re dying, and they cut your power! (That’s on the list, you’ll note.) You’ll have to get to a public computer, like the ones at the library. But the library’s closed. What to do?
Before it happens, you move, that’s what you do. The reason? Budget problems, of course. Makes it sound like some Evil Christie has put the hammer down, but it’s a bit more nuanced. It’s a wrangle over a contract.
The sticking point in negotiations appears to be job security. The city council asked OPD officers to pay nine percent of their salary toward their pensions, which would save the city about $7.8 million toward a multi-million dollar deficit. The police union agreed, as long as the city could promise no layoffs for three years. No dice, says city council president Jane Brunner.
Every private-sector company has slashed payrolls and done the same or more with less. Not the police union: unless they are guaranteed three years employment, they will simply redefine their job downward.
One suspects that they put the power of the union above the health and safety of the citizens, but that would be more of that reflexive union-bashing conservatives love to engage in.
One more note: if a police officer suffers any of those crimes while off-duty, think he’ll pick up the phone, or wait until tomorrow to report it online?