Mr. Joe Kirby
RE:
Response to articles on Marietta Police Department’s
Dear Mr. Kirby:
I read with interest both
recent Marietta Daily Journal articles about the latest crime prevention tool
now being utilized by the Marietta Police Department. While I was not surprised by the critical
comments made by amnesty advocate Jerry Gonzalez and Dr. Martinez, I was taken
aback somewhat by the comments of State Representative Earl Ehrhart, a man I admire,
respect and have known since I coached him as a young athlete playing
basketball in the Smyrna Youth Basketball Association. He and I agree on many issues, but the use of
a crime prevention tool such as the Sky Watch surveillance tower, in my
opinion, can be extremely valuable in crowded or highly populated areas that
have the potential to foster illegal and many times dangerous criminal activity
that threatens the safety of all citizens.
I applaud Chief Flynn and the
Marietta Police Department for taking the initiative to proactively address
areas of the city that are subject to higher rates of crime. These and other actions make the community
safer for everyone. While Dr. Martinez and Mr. Gonzalez view
these activities as “profiling Latinos,” I can tell you unequivocally from my
30 years of experience with all enforcement entities in
From my perspective, the
hysteria, fear and apprehension in the Latino community is not being created by
law enforcement but by none other than Mr. Gonzalez, Dr. Martinez and others,
to further their own personal agendas. They appear to be seeking to justify
their own positions within the Latino community by instilling or reinforcing untrue
and biased perceptions in the minds of the people they profess to represent. Their
comments and activities could be a source of the distrust of law enforcement among
the Latinos and unfortunately, the result of these activities serves only to
embolden the criminals who think their crimes will not be reported. Mr. Gonzalez and Dr. Martinez should be
focusing their efforts to encourage the Latino community to work more closely
with law enforcement rather than working against it. The mission of every law enforcement agency
in Cobb is clearly to protect and serve every individual in our community.
The Sheriff’s Office and each
police department in our county works very hard to protect citizens and all
victims of any crime. We professionally,
impartially and compassionately, not selectively, enforce the laws of each
municipality,
To have the men and women
that take a solemn oath to protect our communities continually criticized for
erroneously perceived notions or slandered by undocumented allegations is very offensive to me – personally and
professionally. This unnecessary and
biased debate about the delivery of services by the law enforcement community
in Cobb is wearing very thin. At this
time in our history, as the population of
Sincerely,
Neil Warren,
Sheriff