When I was growing up here in Sallisaw, we did not have locks on our doors. We did not need them. When I was a boy, about the worst thing we could do was to steal a watermelon now and then. When I was a boy, there was a general respect for law and order.
No more. Nowadays they are hustling dope in hamburger joints. Right and wrong is no longer a consideration; it is winning that counts. Real standards no longer are common. An overcrowded jail makes it too easy to get off the hook and that is too often and too easily arraigned. The times are a mess. Law and order, as I was raised to understand them, no longer exist. Now we have come to the real possibility that we will have to shut down our jail. I shudder at the thought. So should you.
As bad as lawlessness is, it will get worse. A few short years ago, and on a capitation basis, Sequoyah County was the methamphetamine capital of Oklahoma. We have made a little progress out of this hole, but shutting down our jail is not going to help. Burglary and other theft is commonplace in the countryside. Shutting down our jail is not going to help.
The local meth lab industry is on the rise. Shutting down our jail will make our county a more inviting place for criminals to live. Choking off the funds for our sheriff will make our county a more inviting place for criminals to live.
If we want to maintain law enforcement in its rightful place, shutting down our jail will not save us any money. If we choose to maintain law enforcement, we will have to pay other counties to house our prisoners. That will be a lot more expensive than housing them ourselves. I think I read somewhere that the state will require us to maintain law enforcement, so not funding it and letting it lapse is not really an option. We would have fewer criminals caught at a much greater incarceration cost and a much greater societal cost due to increased crime.
We citizens have not adjusted our thinking to the changing times. We have more population, unfortunately more crime, and the need to house more of the folks who choose to violate the law. If we want effective law enforcement, then we must up the ante.
The only option here is for us to decide where we are going to house our prisoners. If we choose to shut down our jail, we will still have to raise even more money via some sort of an assessment to pay for transporting and housing them elsewhere. Ouch!
Our sheriff has already increased the presence of law enforcement throughout our county. Let’s support him in this effort to make Sequoyah County a nicer place to live. Let’s vote for a safer place to live Let’s vote “Yes” for law and order. Vote “Yes” for the jail tax.
JOE F. PETERS SR., SALLISAW
