THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay Chief of Police Bob Herman might not realize it, but in his ongoing efforts to support the federal gun registry, he is telling us what his real priorities are. It isn’t making our streets safer from the actions of criminals, it is making sure that duck hunters, deer hunters and target shooters are controlled.
Talk about missing the target.
The Chief is focused on gun control this week, and the failed federal gun registry. The Chief isn’t focused on crime control, and that is where his priorities should be. Instead the Chief of Police is practicing politics.
The Chief is out of step with our two elected MPs both of whom have promised they will vote to scrap this expensive boondoggle. The Chiefs of Police are also well out of step with ordinary Canadians, as well as most rank and file police officers.
Both Bruce Hyer and John Rafferty have promised residents that they will vote to scrap the gun registry. Should they not do so, they will pay the political price. The Chief, who isn’t elected has no political price to pay.
Angus Reid in a poll just completed on August 24th state, “The Canadian Firearms Registry, also known as the long gun registry, requires the registration of all non-restricted firearms in Canada. Two-in-five Canadians (43%) believe the registry has been unsuccessful in preventing crime in Canada, while three-in-ten (29%) think it has had no effect on crime. Only 13 per cent of respondents believe the Canadian Firearms Registry has been successful”.
Chief Herman is part of that 13 per cent.
Maybe what the Chiefs of Police should be doing is taking time out from their self-assigned political careers, and taking a few shifts a week in a patrol unit. It is likely time for many of the Chiefs of Police to get back to the basics, and realize what the real issues in their communities actually are.
When the Chiefs are fighting for something that 87 per cent of Canadians figure is a waste of money and effort, it starts to become obvious that the Chiefs are out of touch.
For Chief Herman, the goal should be making sure that Thunder Bay is a safer place for our children to grow up in. In his actions over the past several years, it increasingly appears that the Chief is eyeing his legacy as the President of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police and other charitable efforts.
Thunder Bay deserves better, and the fact likely is that Chief Herman knows it.
That of course is just my opinion, and, as always your mileage may vary.
James Murray