Smithfield, North Carolina Police May Ignore '911' Calls If Not Provided More Gas Money

[one_voice]

In one North Carolina town, some residents may not get an answer to their 911 calls because the police are running out of gas money.

In a town council meeting Tuesday night, Smithfield, North Carolina Police Chief Michael Scott will ask officials to let him use $30,000 meant for office supplies to buy gas for patrol cars, the Raleigh News and Observer reports. If he doesn't get the money, Smith said the police force may stop responding to some 911 calls and investigating misdemeanors because he's already cut patrols.

Smithfield isn't the only town looking for ways to cut costs to contend with budget woes. High unemployment and a struggling housing market have pushed more than half of U.S. cities to cut staff, boost fees or cancel infrastructure projects, according to the National League of Cities. The situation has gotten so dire that deep state and local budget cuts may be slowing U.S. economic growth, according to The Associated Press.

City officials in Allen Park, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, announced Tuesday that they would lay off more than 30 police officers, firefighters and city workers, the Detroit Free Press reports. In Santa Ana, California a budget analysis found that the city may need to take steps including closing some fire stations at night to close a projected $30 million budget gap, according to Voice of OC.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/01/smithfield-north-carolina-police-gas-money_n_1069470.html?ref=business&icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl3|sec1_lnk2|109407

[Fire Walk With Me]

1. I do hope the police departmens who are ravaging the #Occupiers run out of money...

...not enough money for this, not enough money for that...our heads are up our asses if money is the limiting factor to filling human need.

[frylock]

2. ass, gas, or grass

[Shagbark Hickory]

3. Sounds like a win-win for all parties involved.

[dtexdem]

4. If there is a 911 system in place, there is a duty to provide for response.

And that certainly includes providing the gas money so responders can respond.

As to closing fire stations at night, all a locality has to do is to arrange for no fires to break out at night. ;-)

What's destroying the country is not a set of budget deficits, it's a set of political yahoos who proclaim government to be the enemy, so don't find ways to fund essential services.

[Xithras]

6. Legally, no.

Warren v. District of Columbia. The police have no duty to respond to emergency calls or to protect citizens from harm. Many states (including my own home state of California) go even further, and have laws in place specifically removing any liability from police departments who fail to respond or protect. You can call them 50 times about a murderer being in your house, and there is no legal requirement that they respond. According to the federal judiciary, if that murderer kills you and your family sues, they won't even be entitled to any compensation, because the government is not liable for damages caused by third party criminal acts.

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. a great time to knock over the Ava Gardner museum -

some of those costumes are scrumptious.