Opinion & Editorial, Public Safety & Health

Letters to the Editor: Unwanted changes to Public Safety page

Dear Editor:

As a Creswell resident, it previously was useful for:

• Understanding the volume of calls that our local Creswell deputies and South Lane Fire/EMS personnel respond to.

• Seeing the location of calls – are incidents happening close to my home or in neighborhoods of family members, or around schools or areas I walk in?

• Seeing specific times of day for each call.

• Seeing the nature of each call, not just generalities. Are there patterns of incidents happening in our town, etc.

We are told that our personal safety requires us to be aware of our surroundings; a more detailed log enables us to a more detailed log enables us to have the same awareness of our wider community public safety.

Joyce Hartman, Creswell

***

Dear Editor:

My heart sank when I saw how your public safety section changed to only give us disconnected summary data. I read it as a resident, not a sociologist collecting stats. Imagine if you changed the sports section to say, “Common sports: football, track, volleyball. Common addresses: Creswell, Pleasant Hill, Cottage Grove. Overall, the evening hours have the highest concentration of games.” Useless, right?

We already know where the trouble hot spots are and what the common incidents are.  I want to be able to scan down specific police calls to see exactly what is happening. For example, suppose there is a rash of illegal camping, disturbances, abandoned cars, dogs at large, and trespassing at assorted locations in my neighborhood. In that case, it tells me that I had better be on the lookout for encampments along the river. Official reports are better than unsubstantiated scuttlebutt on social media or talk shows, don’t you think?

Perhaps you could trim down the multiple pages of sports coverage to find newspaper space for this valuable information. Thank you for considering my feedback.

Nola Nelson, Cottage Grove

Your support helps The Chronicle Foundation uncover critical stories and strengthen our community. Donate today.

Eat Local

Support Local

Newsletter sign-up