The Sun Sets in the Wild West

The first few years I lived in my new community were fine. I spent many hours and a lot of personal funds to upgrade my home to reflect who I am and how I live my life. However, the political management of the community came into question with a series of events that blemished both the growing reputation and the service amenities expected in a town:

--An individual was elected mayor and no one knows how. He was completely incompetent and apparently involved in illegal activities.

--The total number of law enforcement officers was cut, and some members of the force were the subjects of legal action due to misconduct.

--The animal enforcement office was shut down, which led to huge packs of feral animals roaming the desert, attacking small dogs and cats, as well as strewing trash throughout the areas on trash collection day.

--The code enforcement agency that stayed on top of illegal dumping, graffiti, and abandoned vehicles lost its funding, with a result of neighborhoods taking on the appearance of trash dumps. There was not a flat surface in the town not tagged with gang graffiti that no one painted out.

But those were issues that could be lived with, especially if vigilant neighbors cleaned up the trash, reported abandoned vehicles, called the police to pick up the feral dogs, and painted over the gang graffiti with their own paint. The town was an eyesore, but with the economy tanking and the number of foreclosures affecting the development of the town, it was a wait-and-see situation.

What became intolerable in the past few years is the criminal element that has taken over the town. Gunfire became common throughout my community as organized gangs, parolees, and illegal aliens swarmed the neighborhoods. When there is no enforcement agency to combat their presence, the criminal element thrives. I have reported regular gunfire to the police, weapons being discharged at one of the two houses behind me, as well as the house across the street. I've called the police about suspected drug dealing, as well as suspicious individuals roaming about the neighborhood at all hours of the day and night. I even called about a person I observed in a car stopping at every single mailbox on both sides of my street, to no avail.

Yesterday, however, everything changed: a combined law enforcement action involving approximately 40 agencies and a total of 700 personnel began breaking down doors before sunrise, targeting gangs, parolees, and illegal aliens. According to the media, that was just day one in an on-going effort to make life so miserable for the criminals that they will leave this area.

Heliocopters were overhead for most of the day and the streets were clogged with official tactical vehicles: weapons were confiscated, drugs were seized, a meth lab was destroyed, and a home used as the headquarters for one of the two biggest gangs in the area was bulldozed. One hundred twenty plus arrests were made and about 70 illegals were transported for deportation. During the news conference held against the backdrop of the bulldozed house, officials said they aren't done.

We have had so many murders in the past 6 months involving DHS residents that it was long past time to beef up both law enforcement and active prevention of continuing criminal activity. This combined action had been in the planning phase for perhaps as long as a year, including surveillance and inter-agency cooperation. We are adding 6 new police officers to the force beginning Monday, which will allow better over-all proactive protection to be part of the service plan.

Although we may rest easier, we can't let down our guard because this kind of person doesn't give up that easily; however, I feel more confident that a responding officer will be on the scene quickly and ready to take action after being assured that this town is not going to tolerate the criminal element for another day.

PS: none of the intrusions/arrests took place on my street. Most of the murders in the past 6 months have involved known gang members/criminals, not "innocent" citizens. For more information on Operation Setting Sun, see http://www.mydesert.com