• About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Pickem Terms and Conditions
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
The Platte County Landmark Newspaper
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Pickem!
    • Weekly Pickem Updates
    • Results by Week
    • The Leaderboard
    • Pickem Rules and Help
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • es_MXSpanish
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Pickem!
    • Weekly Pickem Updates
    • Results by Week
    • The Leaderboard
    • Pickem Rules and Help
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • es_MXSpanish
No Result
View All Result
The Platte County Landmark Newspaper
No Result
View All Result

Give a little bit

Chris Kamler by Chris Kamler
June 12, 2020
in The Rambling Moron
7
SHARES
174
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via Email

The roar seems to only be getting louder. The news cycle hasn’t yet focused on something else, in part, due to the nearly two weeks of marching, protesting, rioting, and, in some cases, looting related to the accused murder of George Floyd in Minnesota.

The conversation has shifted, ever so slightly, towards what positive changes could come out of this. What on earth could make this different than all of the other protests and social conversations around race in this country that, unfortunately, emerged after the death of a minority at the hands of a police officer? There does seem to be a new thread by those leading some of the discussion and they’re targeted at improvements to the police force. This is where I feel technology can help immensely. There are those who will disagree, but the use of body cameras and other recording devices can easily help tell the full story of interactions with suspects both positively and negatively. But the real focus seems to be on letting some of the air out of local police departments.

RelatedNews

More perfect

Never enough

Nicknames

The police are armed to the teeth in preparation for any possibility. Riot. Hostages. Meteor attacks. Earthquakes. Zombies. The thinking would be focusing on local or “alternative” policing and dialing back the armored tanks and bazookas in hopes that de- escalation of tensions with the community might result.

Now, if normal people on both sides of this discussion could sit down and discuss without yelling and punching, it’s probably a no-brainer that the Platte County Sheriff’s Department doesn’t need an armored tank in its garage. A tank which, according to the sheriff’s department, has been used five times in the three and a half years they’ve had it.

Platte County is a relatively rural area. Where it crosses into Kansas City and KCI, those are under jurisdictions that might be more armed or could provide more resources if TIE Fighters decided to attack the airport. Throwing that money toward softer policing techniques might be a great idea.

Hey, I’ve worked with budgets before. You never want to have $100,000 left over at the end of the year so you spend it on something, anything, just so you can say you spent your whole budget – ensuring that is your starting number next year. I think, however, opting less for toys of warfare and more toward practices of serving and protecting might be a better spend to help overall.

But these are not normal people. These are angry people on one side and angry people on the other side. It’s sad to think that it has come to this. Slashing funding for a needed public service because that funding is used inappropriately in times of crisis is sad. It’s not something I want to see happen. I also strongly feel that building a county or small town war machine that is the envy of Jerry Bruckheimer film is way over the top. Over aggression on both sides has brought us to this – and mutual de-escalation seems to be the best option remaining. That means talking and words and not pepper spray, looting, or rubber bullets. It’ll require a leap of faith on both sides – and that’s going to be the real kicker.

In fairness, I don’t know anything about what the Platte County Sheriff’s Department, or even Kansas City PD spend in those categories. But I can tell you they have war toys because they’re emblazoned across their social media. Why have a tank if you don’t intend to use it? It’s much harder to say that you have shifted your officer deployment strategy toward a community-centered approach with outreach efforts onto a website. Doesn’t all fit on a bumper sticker very easily.

In many ways, the lack of spotlight on police and sheriffs north of the river gives us a great opportunity to lead by example here. Recognize that we probably have similar problems and proactively solve some of them before the CNN cameras — or the zombies — roll into town.

(Proactively follow Chris Kamler on Twitter where he is known as @TheFakeNed and catch him on Landmark Live at the brand spanking new plattecountylandmark.com)

Tags: chris kamlerlandmark liveplatte cityplatte countyPublic Safety
Chris Kamler

Chris Kamler

Chris Kamler is a cybersecurity architect by day, and pain in the ass by night.

He is a twice-published author, and has over 500 columns with The Landmark under his belt. Chris is a lifelong Northlander with a son and dog.

You can reach him on most of the social networks as Chris Kamler or TheFakeNed.

Related Posts

Landmark On the Road

Landmark On the Road–In Canada

by Ivan Foley
July 10, 2025
0

Joe Wellington, former police chief for Platte City, poses in Yellowknife, Canada with a copy of The Landmark. Wellington and his group spent two weeks in Yellowknife, which is 2,500 miles north and west from Platte City. The group spent...

45 Years Ago–July 11, 1980

by Ivan Foley
July 9, 2025
0

A demolition derby on Wednesday, July 23 will be one of the spectator highlights of the 117th annual Platte County Fair, scheduled July 23-26 at the fairgrounds in Tracy. The derby will also be held Thursday. The fair will also...

30 Years Ago–July 13, 1995

by Ivan Foley
July 9, 2025
0

Eight girls are seeking the crown to be worn by the 1995 Platte County Fair Queen. Candidates include: Jennifer Cox, 17, sponsored by The Landmark Newspaper; Ginger Hass, 19, sponsored by Ida Cox; Ashley Jenks, 19, sponsored by Professional Eye...

15 Years Ago–July 14, 2010

by Ivan Foley
July 9, 2025
0

President Barack Obama visited Platte County’s Smith Electric Vehicles plant on Thursday as part of the administration’s wide ranging “Recovery Summer” tour of many of the stimulus projects funded by Recovery Act grants. Smith Electric Vehicles operates out of the...

Next Post

Pandemic-free column,

Popular News

  • Police

    Driver, 18, killed in Hwy. 45 crash

    113 shares
    Share 45 Tweet 28
  • Parkville chooses plan for easing congestion

    32 shares
    Share 13 Tweet 8
  • Platte City Lions Club has pulled the plug

    41 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • Nathan Willett says he’ll run for state senate

    12 shares
    Share 5 Tweet 3
  • Take survey about future of Downtown Platte City

    11 shares
    Share 4 Tweet 3
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Pickem Terms and Conditions
Call us at 816-858-0363

Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Subscribe Online
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Pickem
    • Results by Week
    • The Leaderboard
    • Pickem Rules and Help
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • es_MXSpanish

Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved