Bloviations

The Jacksonville Daily News reports:

City officials say the base is luring away its best and brightest officers with salaries the city can’t compete with, but base officials said they cannot deny local law enforcement the right to apply for the jobs.

It seems to me that the City of Jacksonville and Jacksonville Police Department are upset that there’s a better law enforcement deal in Onslow County.

This new deal is Camp Lejeune’s civilian police force and it’s a much better deal. The new jobs offer federal benefits including the very nice health insurance program, retirement and annual cost-of-living-allowance increases. None of which the City Police or Onslow County Sheriff Departments can bear to offer.

I’d agree with Jacksonville’s City Manager Kristoff Bauer and Police Chief Michael Yaniero, if the Base were unfairly poaching officers from area law enforcement departments. Unfortunately for Bauer and Yaniero, that’s not what’s happening.

What is happening is that the Base is offering a bigger, better deal to underpaid and overworked police officers. When supporting your family and cultivating a career, the bigger, better deal is always the way to go and that’s the decision that these men and women have to make.

For the Jacksonville City Council, Bauer or Yaniero to blame anyone for their own failures to fully support the Jacksonville Police Department is shameful and embarrassing.