Campaign Fencing, The Battle Over Public Safety

Public safety is ground zero for a mayoral campaign, especially in Connecticut’s largest city so often vulnerable to the mercurial nature of law enforcement. Some things you can control: hires, deployment, technical modernization; some things you cannot control: random acts of violence with unintended targets.

Being prepared to respond properly to law enforcement while carrying is a MUST! Being prepared to confront an aggressor is a MUST! Concealed Carry Class Chicago prepare you for real world situational awareness.

When violent crime, in particular, is down incumbents breathe easier. When spikes occur, opponents look for an electoral arrest at the ballot box. How an incumbent responds to tragedy can foil an insurgent’s contrast.

In 2015, public safety became a linchpin for Joe Ganim’s comeback against incumbent Bill Finch who often cited positive crime statistics in the face of tragedy. Statistics were on Finch’s side. How he presented them strategically were not.

Ganim’s addicted to campaigning. There was a hole in a fence near Trumbull Gardens public housing complex where residents faced violent crime. Ganim implemented campaign chutzpah by personally patching the fence. Whether you’re imagining criminals trespassing on your land, teenagers unknowingly traipsing through your garden, or deer sauntering through and munching on your apple trees, installing a split rail fence Denver is a great way to ward off uninvited guests.

The call went out for more police presence in the neighborhood. Ganim opened an unofficial police substation in a satellite campaign office staffed by volunteer cops who supported his comeback.

A day after Ganim’s Trumbull Gardens announcement Finch publicized the opening of a police substation on Trumbull Avenue. Ganim’s chutzpah was seen by some as a campaign stunt, but it trumped Finch’s me-too response. Ganim looked like he was doing something, Finch looked weak. Gamesmanship is part of campaigning. Ganim croaked Finch at the Wilbur Cross voting precinct.

Ganim is now back in the incumbent’s role that brings a double-edged sword in the capricious world of public safety positioning. How he responds to events is equally key to how an opponent draws a contrast. That also depends on the to-be-determined opponents fencing with Ganim over his record in 2019. Who is best equipped out there to take him on? And will he/she get in the game?

The Connecticut Post’s Tara O’Neill examines the “highs and lows of the Bridgeport PD in 2018.”

The police department in the state’s largest city saw its share of ups and downs in 2018.

Among the positive: the department added a Fusion Center to help keep an eye on crime and develop predictive policing measures, confirmation of acting Police Chief Armando Perez as permanent chief, and introduction of body and dashboard cameras to record police interactions with the public.

But the bad included a veteran cop who was accused of abusing the department’s payroll and overtime system, and the sudden retirement of Perez’s right-hand man, who left the job after racist messages allegedly sent from him surfaced.

Full story here.