“Ignoring minor crimes leads to an increase in violent crimes”. This is a quote from William Fitzpatrick, president of the National District Attorney’s Association in response to a statement from one Rachael Rollins, Democratic Party candidate for Suffolk County District Attorney.
MS. Rollins has decided that, if elected, she will not prosecute certain crimes committed against the citizens of the county. She said that she will not prosecute people arrested for, among many others, the crimes of larceny, trespassing, drug dealing and resisting arrest, because she considers them to be not important enough to clog the system. While she might think these crimes are unimportant, it’s a sure bet the victims of those crimes would disagree. This begs the question asked above – Who does she think she is? Who is she, as a public servant whose duty is to prosecute criminals, to decide which laws she will help enforce and which laws she will ignore?
The head of the Boston Police Patrolman’s Union has already weighed in stating that “this will make the jobs of police officers much harder”, as if their jobs aren’t hard enough. Other law enforcement officials agree.
Apparently, Rollins, as well as far too many other elected officials and candidates for office, forgets that she works for the people, not the other way around. The people hire them with their votes and pay their salaries with their tax dollars. The people are the boss and it’s time to act accordingly. Does a candidate for office who declares even before elected that she will not do his or her job deserve the votes of the citizens they have sworn to serve? We think not.
