On his signs and in his television ads, Ramsey proclaims that he is “Keeping Butte County Safe.” That’s strange. I’ve lived in North-east Chico for nine years, and we now have gang shootings and drive-bys.
However, the real question is: Whose job is it to keep the county safe?
Answer, not the District Attorney’s office. It is tasked with prosecution after a crime has occurred, not before. The more brutal, sensational and unpredictable the crime, the more obvious it is that the DA has no power to prevent such crimes, and can only react after the fact.
If not the DA, then who keeps us safe? Take a look in the mirror, my friend. Each of us has the personal duty to live our lives cautiously, to refrain from heedlessly walking out into traffic, and to keep ourselves out of harm’s way. We also have a moral duty to monitor and watch out for those less able: The very young, the very old, the disabled. Only when events escalate into the danger zone must we seek professional help.
We’re talking basic law enforcement here. It’s the Chico Police Department for the East Avenue area where I live, with the Butte County Sheriff’s Office for the unincorporated pockets. Over by the College, you’ll see the University Police. And of course, up on the freeway, it’s the CHP.
When Ramsey says he is keeping Butte County safe, he is distorting the truth. When he embraces that distortion, and makes it his campaign theme song, he does so with reckless negligence.
During the course of a jury trial, there comes a time when the judge reads the jury its instructions. One of those instructions goes more or less like this: “If you find the testimony of any witness to be unreliable in one instance, you may disregard the remainder of his or her testimony in whole or part.”
If Ramsey can’t tell the truth on his campaign signs, why should you believe anything else he says?
