We applaud the Flomaton Town Council for taking the first step toward boosting a law enforcement presence in the town and within the police jurisdiction.
Monday night was the first step in what we hope is a long-term plan to make sure we have at least two police officers on duty at all times, especially at night.
Currently, Flomaton has six full time active police officers. You can't provide 24-7 service with those numbers.
Capt. Chance Thompson presented the town council with some interesting facts Monday night but the few that stood out the most to us was the increase in crime calls and the decrease in cases solved.
That's a numbers game. One police officer can't be at the same place twice any more than a newspaper publisher can be at two places at the same time to take a photograph. Choices have to be made on which place is more important and the one place left out will never understand.
We did hear a complaint about police officers spending a lot of time at convenience stores and not out patrolling the streets. We hope they spend more time at the convenience stores in Flomaton. We also bet that if you ask any clerk working at any convenience store they will surely tell you they love it when a cop is parked outside and possibly being inside drinking a soft drink or a cup of coffee.
We wonder what would have happened if a cop had been at the Tom Thumb drinking coffee about 4:19 a.m. on Jan. 1 when the alarm went off while someone was burglarizing Flomaton Small Engines. One of two things would have happened: the store would either not have been burglarized or the photo on the front page of the Tri-City Ledger would have been a mugshot instead of a security camera photo of an unknown suspect.
We don't think we've ever heard of a convenience store being robbed when a cop car was parked out front.
Visibility is the key. Hopefully the town council will hold workshops and find a way to provide the citizens of Flomaton the protection they deserve. Then again, it may come down to having a police department the citizens are willing to pay for.
