Vallejo, CA, is in the process of going bankrupt. This is horrifying for a variety of reasons, but mostly because the city is less and less able to provide basic government services, like law enforcement:
Vallejo, already in an economic tailspin, has lost about 20 percent of its police force since the city began its slide into bankruptcy.
About 25 of its 150 or so sworn officers have retired or left for other cities, afraid their pensions or salaries may be slashed if a federal bankruptcy court allows the city to void its union contracts.
"It's a tragic loss for this city," said Vallejo police Lt. Don Hendershot. "We've lost a lot of dedicated, experienced officers. It's very sad seeing these guys go, but I understand why they're leaving."
Stop for a moment to think about how horrible it must be for an officer to make the decision between financial stability and service to this city. I'm sure all of these officers know what a bad situation this is for Vallejo, yet they must provide for themselves and their families. That is a horrible position to our public servants in.
Furthermore, this exodus of police officers is having the exact effect you'd expect it to: more crime.
News of the bankruptcy had an immediate impact on local crime, Hendershot said.
"As soon as they started talking about it, back in February, we saw crime jump," he said. "Criminals know we're short staffed. Now we're seeing people coming here from Richmond and Oakland, because they think it's fertile ground."
Robberies in Vallejo have doubled from this time last year, although homicides and other violent crimes are about the same, police said. Vallejo had 361 robberies and 15 homicides in 2007, according to FBI crime statistics. Nearby Richmond, by comparison, had 47 homicides and 492 robberies.
Of course, crime is also on the upswing for the same reason Vallejo is failing:
The North Bay city of 117,000 filed for bankruptcy in May, faced with a $16 million deficit, an imploding housing market and skyrocketing public employee costs. A U.S. bankruptcy judge in Sacramento is expected to rule by the end of the month whether the city meets Chapter 9 bankruptcy criteria and can begin renegotiating its debts.
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Vallejo is not alone in seeing a jump in robberies, however. Many Bay Area cities have been plagued by robberies due, in part, to the faltering economy.
These are the real ramifications of an ailing economy. This is not "psychological." This is what a recession looks like in it's ugliest form. More crime and less people to do anything about, not to mention all the other services the city provides falling through.
I wonder if Republicans realize that this is their ideal: a government drowning in a bathtub. Granted, Vallejo got here by a different set of circumstance, but the basic parallels are there. This is a government that was so choked by debt that it is dying off and becoming smaller. It's not pretty. Maybe the Republicans can look at Vallejo and say, "That's not what I believe in." Or maybe I'm just being wishful.
One way or another, things are getting worse for those of us here in the reality based community.