Press release issued today by Republican Ken Johnson, who's aiming to be mayor after next Tuesday's election:
Ken Johnson, the Republican nominee for Mayor of the City of Bristol, elaborated further on another of the planks of his campaign platform. Johnson has vowed that as Mayor he would work with the Chief of Police and Police Board to allocate more resources to the Police Department. A major area of concern for Johnson is drug trafficking in our City.
Johnson cited a successful drug sting in New Britain this summer that netted more than 100 arrests of drug dealers and buyers. Johnson advocated for such similar sweeps here in Bristol as our city has become a “safe haven” for drug dealing.
The Mayoral nominee would like to beef up the department’s narcotics division by providing police with the tools they need to step up the effort to crack down on the narcotics trade. “We need to send a strong message to the drug dealers and drug buyers that they are not welcome here in Bristol. Drugs in our community are not confined to the West End,” Johnson added, “They are in our neighborhoods and in our schools.”
Along with the drug issue, Bristol needs to be on the alert for gang activity and stop it in its tracks. “We cannot be blind to the threat of gang violence. Look at the increase in graffiti – it might look like art but to me it is an ominous sign that the gangs and the drug dealers are already here.”
Johnson encouraged residents to be “vigilant,” looking for signs of gangs and drug trafficking such as graffiti and sneakers over power lines. “I’d like to see a confidential tip-line to the police. If residents had the assurance of confidentiality, I believe it would encourage the reporting of incidents or suspicious activity. If one phone call leads to averting violence or helps shut down a drug dealer then we got the bang for our buck.”
“I intend to Put Bristol First, rather than any political party or personal agenda.” Johnson concluded, “The residents of Bristol have been clamoring for a change – I offer that change and my ideas on how we can better serve the people of Bristol in the years to come. Providing our police department with the resources to combat drugs in our City will improve our quality of life and is in our collective best interest.”
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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
16 comments:
OK - so he is saying the same thing that every candidate has always said in the past "combat crime and drug dealers." But he isn't stating how he would do it.
Of course you would need to work with the Chief - all the Mayor's have. You don't have a choice in that matter.
What tools or resources don't they have that they need? How do you propose getting them what they need?
Do you want to hire more police officers? Do you want to raise their budget? Do you want to bring in the Guardian Angels? What is your plan?
You can't say you are going to combat something without a clear plan that you will use to be successful.
Just another political promise. The same one that is made every election year.
Ken Johnson..
All hat (orange baseball cap) and no cattle.
Answers Ken, not rehashed ideas.
In reality, many of the things that you mention are underway, but then, you wouldn't know that, you never attend meetings.
A Johnny come lately
Let's just tell all the druggies how we are going to get them...that way they can know when and where to be so it will be easy for our police. Come on...have some common sense. Besides he did mention the idea of a sweep...something that has not been done...but you would like us to tell them when and where. You Ward supporters are so silly!
Wow, state the obvious. What a fresh idea!!!
Publicizing a city's plan to combat drugs is an effective way to minimize the activity. Putting the fear into them is what gets them to stop doing it in our community.
Johnson seems to be doing a very good job at making Bristol look like a terrible place. Why doesn't he ever tout the good things about out town?
Contrary to popular republican belief, there are some very nice things about Bristol.
Stating the obvious is still more than Ward has done to adress the city's concerns
actions speak louder than words, especially the words of someone like ken who is making it up day by day.
And just what has Art Ward done to stop the drug dealers in Bristol?
If the Bristol police can't handle it, maybe it's time to call in the State Police Drug Task Force for a little assistance. We have plenty of good police officers who could do the job with the right guidance.
putting the orange team on notice , at the expense of this city you and your collegues continue put bristol under the microscope enough is enough we have to live hear by choice.Mr Johnson you started your campaign so professionally ,but the last two weeks have been in the gutter.Putting bristol First,just another campaign slogan.
I think Bristol is a "safe haven" for lunatic, wannabe politicians that no one will ever hear from again after the election!
Ward didn't put the city "under a microscope" with his phoney FOI complaint.
All he did was whine becasue he didn't get a copy of the script.
When you play the game like Ward did with the housing codes you cannot run a hide.
I'd be interested in knowing what "fresh" idea Art Ward has?
Boy Ken's campaign colors really gall you liberals doesn't it.
I now know why yours are Red becasue if you get elected the city will be in the red.
Caps button still stuck, Ken? Try a little WD-40, or maybe just a good book... on capitalization.
Is Johnson another Michelle?
Heaven help us!
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