Delmar, New York

Delmar is a hamlet in the Town of Bethlehem, in Albany County, New York, United States. It is a suburb of the neighboring city of Albany. The community is bisected by NY Route 443 (Delaware Avenue), a major thoroughfare, main street, and route to Albany.

A census-designated place (CDP) has been established since 1980 by the U.S. Census Bureau for tabulating the population of what the census has defined as the boundaries of the urbanized area in and around Delmar. The population was 8,292 at the 2000 census, but it was not included as a CDP in the 2010 census.

In 2005, CNN/Money Magazine named the Delmar ZIP Code (an area larger than the Delmar hamlet or CDP) as one of the “Best Places to Live” in America, rating it the 22nd best place to live among what it called “Great American Towns.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delmar,_New_York

Defund the police 👮

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If you think about it, law enforcement is usually the most expensive and risky way to address community problems.

If government operated more like a private business, much of what law enforcement does would be dedicated to lower paid employees that specialize in the task and have the expertise to do it well – with much less emphasis on enforcement.

For example:

  • Traffic accidents – better addressed by rookie city traffic engineers who could better analyze the crash and focus on improving road design not on issuing tickets
  • Accidental fires – better addressed by fire fighters or other city workers like construction flaggers to direct traffic
  • Medical emergencies – better addressed by EMS services, usually not much of a role for police
  • Traffic enforcement – automated devices like speed cameras and license plates readers run against databases and mailed citations are not biased based on race or social class (like driving an old beat up car)
  • Directing traffic at emergency sites – best addressed by rookie city construction flaggers
  • Parking management at special events – best managed by maintenance and other laborers at the venue putting on the event
  • Homelessness – best addressed by social services agencies
  • Vagerency – best addressed by social service agencies and mental health professionals
  • Mental illness – best addressed by mental health professionals that work out in the field

To be sure, law enforcement should be given assistance in transitioning out of the public sector to private occupations. Cities could work with private employers to make the transition as easy as possible. They could allow the police officer to continue to remain in the pension system and receive public health care – the private sector employer would cut a check to the government. Pistol permits could also be transfered over seamlessly.

These heroes could be treated with respect and gratitude while in transitioning them to private sector work while the government finds more efficient methods of delivering essential services then relying on the police for so many services.