Muscatine

Yer goofy

AJ Johnson isn't an elected official. He's hired, just like a trashman or policeman.

Not paying attention

Some here obviously do not pay attention to the things that are happening around them, even when they have been widely reported, and form opinions based on emotions or rumors rather than facts.

The issue with the K9 was quite simple. Due to its age, the cost of re-training it ($6,000 more tax dollars) for what might be only 1 or 2 years of additional service, and its inability to live with anyone else, the other alternative to declaring it surplus and allowing the officer to take it as a family pet was euthanization. So some of you think that destroying the animal that was purchased with tax money is a better alternative? I think not. If the dog has served the city and its citizens well all these years, I think it should at least be able to live the rest of its natural life as a family pet, with no further cost to the city. Just my opinion. I for one, think living is better than dying and I'm pretty sure the dog would agree.

As far as the police officer leaving (as well as the others that left) again, if you were paying attention you would know that the police union went to the city council last year and said that people were leaving because the department is understaffed (forcing them to work far too much overtime and being away from their families too often), and that other departments of similar size (including the Muscatine Sheriff's department, and in proximity to Muscatine pay better. Being a cop is being a cop, so why not do it for $6,000 more per year up the river in Davenport or over in Iowa city. This was reported by both the Journal and KWPC, and the Journal editorialized about the issue as well.

Having been at that meeting when the police union came, I can tell you that there were no complaints about the chief or the city administrator both of whom are appointed by council and not elected), only about staffing and wages. Having lived here since the late 1980?’s and remembering how things were with the police then, I can say that I much prefer the way it is now. Just my opinion. If we want to maintain our police, we need to pay them better and staff the department better. We will only have the quality of policing that we are willing to pay for.

Discussions make so much more sense when we actually take the time to find out the facts behind things, don't you think?

duh

if we were all cops or somehow connected as you apperntly are then we would know more right? Don't downrate the common man, and remember, if work for law enforcement, you are the one lower on the totem pole, frankly, i think it's crap when you use an innocent animal in crime fighting, what's funnier is when a perpatrator harms the animal, the police want to charge him/her with assaulting a police officer. The day i see a dog swear an oath, then i'll call him officer. Until then, the dog is a tool, nothing more.

To crkdcophatr

If when you say ''common'' you mean ''ignorant'', I'd say that in your case you are correct.

There's a distinct difference in being uninformed, and being just plain ignorant. Thanks for the example.