It”s time we start having a real conversation about crime in Lake County.
Prior to Mr. Rivero taking office we did not have a “narcotics task force.” The resources diverted from crime suppression and other LCSO efforts to the narcotics task force have been primarily focused on marijuana eradication. Additionally, teams of patrol officers are routinely allocated to “drug interdiction,” a controversial tactic, which places teams of officers on the highway corridors to “profile” drivers for a “stop and sniff” as it is referred to by the ranks. The results of these two efforts result in larger “asset forfeiture” numbers, something Rivero bragged about in his campaign literature (he is an old narc cop after all), but don”t lead to safer streets or lower crime, actually just the opposite.
Mr. Rivero has chosen to allocate the majority of the sheriff”s resources to marijuana, and as a result violent crime has skyrocketed.
Some blame it on marijuana, claiming that “violent pot growers” are to blame for this spike. But the truth is that it”s bad policing. Our new sheriff-elect, Brian Martin, who takes office in January, promises to put the focus back on the meth epidemic and the violence associated with it, and I hope that was not just an empty campaign promise.
Some indisputable facts about violence and marijuana: known meth addicts have committed every reported home invasion robbery of a marijuana patient, including the one that ended in the death of the intruder. Cities and counties that have robust regulations surrounding medical marijuana have all experienced a drop in violent crime. In Denver, Colorado, where they have some of the tightest regulations on medical marijuana, violent crime is down 11 percent.
A yes vote on Measure O will repeal the failed Measure N. Measure O will give legal patient cultivators equal protection under the law, and once a patient can call the sheriff and be treated like a victim, not a suspect, meth heads will get the message that medical marijuana patients are no longer a soft target.
Yes on O will leave regulating legal gardens to the community development department, freeing up the sheriff”s resources to go after criminal growers and violent meth addicts. Vote yes on Measure O!
Michael Horner, Cobb
