Gorman's Grab Bag

Saturation on my mind

Despite the city's financial woes, the residents said they want to see extra cops as much as possible. The only problem is, thanks to those financial woes, it might not be possible very much.

Last year, the first round of patrols lasted a month after a quadruple homicide, in conjunction with the state patrol. I can remember driving on Oak Street/McCartney Road on several Sundays, where there were so many cars that at times they seemed to outnumber the civilians.

The brass I spoke to at the department last week were coy about whether the patrols would come back, but I think as long as they have grant money, which they are using this time, sometime in July and August there will be an influx of police on the city streets again.

This year's blitz will also include all four of the department's K9s, which was lacking last year because the department did not have any of their own K9s. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, the department learned from their saturation patrols last year and how they will employ that knowledge this year.