RNC… Really Not Coming
By Ivan Morgan / June 29, 2023
Someone beat out my passenger side car window in my driveway. They didn’t steal anything because there was nothing to steal. It’s not a great feeling to go out in the morning and see that kind of damage. Being old-fashioned, I phoned the police. I got a recorded phone message listing off a menu of buttons I could press. When it got to my car being robbed, it directed me to an online form I could fill out. That was not a great feeling either.
Coughing up $300 to fix my car didn’t bring me any joy either.
Townies are known for their delicious dark humour, and I have heard this joke more than once: What does RNC stand for? Really Not Coming.
Now I was living it. I didn’t bother with the form.
When I write I am disgusted with the police, please do not think I mean the hard-working dedicated rank and file putting themselves out there every day for us. Nothing but respect and admiration for them. The brass, however . . .
I don’t know much about police work, but I do know a thing or two about policy. There’s a wonderful old political saying: there are two things you should never see being made, sausages and laws. Morgan’s addition – that includes policies.
How was this policy approved? Some bright spark either in the RNC or the Department of Justice for some reason thought it would be a good idea to have regular folks who have suffered serious property damage fill out a form online rather have an officer meet with them and examine the damage. Probably thought it was a good way to cut down on the workload. Probably does.
But this policy has other consequences. It leaves tax-paying homeowners wondering what they are paying taxes for. It breeds hopelessness and fear among regular folks who see their neighborhoods being vandalized and little being done. It breeds cynicism about the police, which no doubt demoralizes those working on the force.
It also makes people who are likely to commit petty crimes bolder. Word gets out fast. Why not rob a car – the cops aren’t coming.
Case in point. We took a relative of ours to buy groceries. She is 70, lives downtown and has no car. We took her home. I always wait outside her house until she is inside and safe before I drive away. After I left, she came back out to get the rest of the groceries on her doorstep, only to find a fellow bold as brass making off with them. Being her, she confronted him and made him put them down. Seeing there was some missing, she then forced the guy to show her where he had stashed the rest. With hard words to him, she took them back. Talk about a force of nature!
Funny story? Sure, but it could very easily not have been. Did she call the police? Why bother, she said. You know what RNC stands for.
There was a piece in The Telegram last week where an auto glass professional said he’d never seen so many “smash and grab” car crimes in his decades in the business. It included an interview with a man who had $1,500 worth of stuff robbed from his car. It took a week for the cops to get in touch with him. Really Not Coming.
So why was this policy adopted? I have seen policy crafted for all kinds of reasons. Is this a management issue? Not enough officers? Too many cutbacks? Was it because they are busy dealing with bigger issues? Too much petty crime?
Or is this fundraising? Was it because the RNC leadership know the best way to get more funding is to have you and I put the squeeze on our elected officials. Am I cynical? I have seen it done.
I am just asking questions here.
The RNC has a bit of an image problem. This new policy isn’t helping. Homeowners want to know that their property is safe, and they can count on some form of protection if they get hit. At the very least they want the appearance that the police are present in the community, not holed up in an office reading online forms.
I remind those who thought this policy was a good one of an old legal truth: Justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done.
Ivan Morgan can be reached at ivan.morgan@gmail.com