Police Strike

The Toledo Police are considering going on strike in protest over failed labor union negotiations involving higher pay and better benefits for Toledo police union members, who are funded by tax money.  I'm being rhetorical here.  From Toledo Police Union Considering a Strike:

The president of the Toledo Police Patrolman's Association said Tuesday night that the union is considering a strike even though it is forbidden under Ohio law.

"We haven't said we are going to strike," Dan Wagner said. "We have just an option we are looking into."

Got that first part?  Even though it's against the law, the police are going to do it anyway.  In case you're wondering, that's because Ohio law applies only to mere civilians; police can do as they see fit.  The Blade continues to alarm the general populace with this crap: Mayhem in Toledo Followed 1979 Walkout.  In particular, numerous rat infested abandoned buildings, many of which were being used by squatters, drug dealers and two dollar whores were burnt to the ground.  The Plaza Hotel on Monroe Street was destroyed by fire.  The Plaza was going to be converted into apartments at some point in the future, but that project didn't happen and we're better off for that particular failure.  Toledo City councilman Collins somehow lived through this two day DMZ and had this to say about it:

Councilman D. Michael Collins, a police officer at the time who stayed on the job, recalled the 1979 strike as "painful."
"The panic that went through the city, it was like a war zone. The citizens were put at risk," he said.

Of course, Collins served as president of the Toledo Police Patrolman's Association (TPPA), so I wonder if this statement might be just a little biased.  From Collins bio page:

In 1973 he was appointed to the Toledo Police Department and served for 27 years, including his last 10 years as the elected president of the Toledo Police Patrolman's Association.  He led the negotiations for the Toledo Police Patrolman's Association for 5 contracts.

The truth is that Toledo, or any city for that matter, won't survive long without a fire department.  Check the Great Chicago Fire for proof.  At the same time, the city could get along very nicely without as many police on the payroll, and that's what the TPPA does not want the residents to find out.  Another thing to consider is that these same men and women who are threatening to go on strike and leave the mere civilians responsible for their own safety are the same police that functioned as ex-mayor Crazy Carty Finkbeiner's storm troopers and harassed people that opposed a bike path Finkbeiner wanted; see the link here.


If the police want to go on strike, I say let 'em.  Maybe we can somehow get along with fewer police.

I know I can.