See something, say something

Letter date: 
Thursday, December 15, 2016
Letter publisher: 
CORVALLIS Gazette-Times
Letter author: 
Dale E. Trautman
Letter body: 

As a past resident of Corvallis and an Oregon State University alumni, I was very upset with the public announcements by the president of OSU and the Corvallis chief of police that Corvallis is a sanctuary city and OSU is a sanctuary campus.

We are quite frequently urged to "If you see something, say something" as part of our civic duty. So does this civic duty not apply to the leaders of your community?

The message I get from the chief of police and the president of OSU is that we don't have to "say something if we see something" because this type of behavior is discouraged by the leaders of your community.

This seems to be a message to students and residents to not cooperate with authorities in deterring or stopping crime. This is the same problem that the inner city police and the immigration authorities have to deal with in this country. Nobody sees anything and nobody says anything!

So this poses the question: If I chose to do my civic duty and report a crime, to whom would I report the crime? Our leaders have essentially told us they won't do anything unless it is a parking violation or student noise.

Is this the type of civics lesson and example that you want to relay to the students and residents of your community?

I am ashamed to admit that I was once a resident of Corvallis and student at OSU.

Again, to whom do I report a crime (i.e. robbery, immigration, theft, vandalism etc.) with the expectation the laws of this great nation will be enforced?