October 3, 2005 The Kennesaw Ordinance (adopted March 1982) in Kennesaw GA now being applied to Loris - (Loris Safety Ordinance) :

October 3, 2005
My name is Melissa Seaman, from Loris. I am talking to you about why it is necessary that the Loris Safety Ordinance pass immediately and without reservation.

First of all, police are not - and should not be - responsible for protecting individuals. There are over 10 supreme and state court rulings regarding this issue. In the latest case, Castle Rock vs. Gonzales, 7/27/05, the Supreme Court's unanimous decision reaffirmed this fact. The court found that Mrs. Gonzales, who was murdered by her husband, did not have any constitutional right to police protection - although police knew her husband was violent and had made death threats against her, and she had a restraining order against him.

Regardless of how life-threatening the situation, individuals have no grounds for individual police protection. From Warren vs. District of Columbia, 444A.2d1, 1981: Quote: A government and its agencies are under no general duty to provide public services, such as police protection, to any particular individual citizen. Unquote. No court has ever ruled otherwise. Most crimes happen within seconds or minutes, and police cannot be there to help. Police officers cannot be bodyguards. They are there for the public good. It has been proven that criminals are not afraid of police or of the justice system.

Secondly, reports show that during 2003, Loris area property and violent crime levels were higher than South Carolina's average. Loris even exceeded the states' rise in crime index for that year. The way things are going, without the Safety Ordinance, Loris crime rates will never decrease enough for the safety of the Loris citizens.

The people of Loris I speak to share my views and concerns. We are on the front lines defending ourselves against a wall of criminals invading our homes, towns and businesses. We know that the police cannot be responsible for protecting our children and us individually, and that spending taxes on increased police presence does a meager job of reducing crime. But we want to live and work in a safe community, where our children can grow up free from the daily threat of violence, kidnapping and sexual assault.

THERE IS GOOD NEWS: The Loris Safety Ordinance is an ALREADY PROVEN WAY to stop and reverse this trend of rising crime. The Loris Safety Ordinance causes anywhere it is adopted to become safe for businesses and families to thrive. SEE FOR YOURSELF that this ordinance SUCCESSFULLY LOWERS personal, violent and property crime rates. Visit the website www.PublicRights.org. Telephone the Kennesaw Mayor and Sheriff. Ask them what their city is like today, compared with before their ordinance was passed 23 years ago.

Look at the recent Katrina debacle and the Los Angeles blackout. Citizens were at the mercy of rapists, looters and murderers, because violent criminals were already within the borders of those areas. The old adage is "never fight a war on your home ground." This statement is true in the war against crime. The Loris Safety Ordinance will keep violent criminals and transients out of Loris, as it does in Kennesaw, Georgia. Kennesaw has not seen 1 crime committed with a gun, not 1 child shot accidentally, and their domestic violence crimes are almost nonexistent.

We need the Loris Safety Ordinance passed because it is a proven method of over 23 years, costs the taxpayers nothing, and reduces crimes to their lowest possible numbers. There is no other law, ordinance or expenditure that can promise the same result. Is the Loris City Council in favor of Increasing or Decreasing crime? If this Council wants to decrease crime, then you must pass the Loris Safety Ordinance. Thank you.