ENFORCEMENT PRIORITIES SHOULD BE CHANGED

I am wryly amused with the stupidity of those law-enforcement
officials who planned the big drug bust and undercover operation at
the Pozo Saloon ("What happened in Pozo," July 8). What a grand waste
of taxpayer money and valuable police resources, in short, what a
joke: It is truly pathetic.

I am not amused with the crime statistics in the north county. I am
not amused when I am told there are only four sheriff's deputies on
patrol in the whole north county in the wee small hours of the
morning, because there is nothing in the budget for more deputies.

Those wee small hours provide the cover necessary for burglaries, when
autos are broken into on a regular basis in San Miguel. The citizens
of San Miguel are upset and angry; we would like to see some arrests
of real criminals--not a few pot-smoking concertgoers who harm no one.

What kind of budget allows for 50 law-enforcement officers to go
begging for less than an ounce of marijuana in total at a music
concert on a sunny afternoon? But allows for only four deputies to
patrol the whole north county in the wee small hours?

David Scott

San Miguel