Take steps to safeguard your safety

Eleckta Gurley-Smith

Dear Editor,

This is my opinion of how to safeguard your business and property from robberies/ burglaries as recently encountered first hand by Amy and Jay Bailey. I empathize with your anger in your recent burglary and I’m sure your trust has been jeopardized.

If I owned a business where there was a lot of cash, drugs i.e. the drug store, guns or fast selling items, I would safeguard it well before something did happen. I’m sure Castles, Superior Pharmacy, 4 Aces, Napa, and etc. have a security system and safes as do the Baileys’ but those locations don’t offer the quick cash as would a pawnshop. If you want to own a pawnshop in Anywhere USA, you’re going to be “hit”. It’s just a matter of when. You can’t make the police your primary defense against crime.

If we tripled the police department in Mineral County, it’s not going to stop crime from happening. When we did have a bigger county/ state police presence in Superior, a few past officers choose to harass teens and the two A.M. bar crowd instead of answering calls. So, it was a waste of county taxpayers hard-earned money, which I am a homeowner and do pay taxes. I certainly don’t want any more tax increases and I’m sure most everybody in Mineral County would agree.

If the town does not have the money for more law officers, there is no other way to increase our police force unless we’re taxed more. As citizens, we could volunteer to do a “ride-along” with our present officers or have car washes and/or bake sales to hire our own security personnel.

We had a medical office for 5 years on 4th. Street and we received a few calls or slow drive-bys from police officials who took their authoritative duties serious enough to either call to tell us that our door was unlocked or to see if I was personally o.k. Usually, I did office chores late at night. We never had any problems with break-ins. I don’t know if it was luck or the sheriff departments’ presence.

So, to get to the grit of this letter, every business/ person has to safeguard their own “stuff” by using their own methods. Businesses have to use their safes and security systems every night. Plus having a business that will draw more criminal elements, more security is necessary. Despite the “urban ghetto” look, you get bars on every entrance and window; also, deadbolts on solid doors with bars to hinder anyone gaining access to your business and safeguard the guns/ weapons room.

You’re somewhat lucky that it wasn’t someone passing through from the freeway since you seem to think it was “locals”. They would have stolen a lot more than the contents of the cash register, pop machine change and a couple of silver necklaces. You would have lost all of your valuable pawn and guns.

So, when do we all take responsibility for our own businesses/ selves and stop expecting the police to be at the right place, at the right time?? Won’t happen on our watch!

Thank you for your time for reading,

Eleckta Gurley-Smith

Superior, MT