East St. Louis Lays Off Roughly One-Third of Police Force

Cities continue to shutdown basic services as the country spends billions abroad on two wars. Just a couple weeks after Oakland announced a plan to no longer respond to calls for such crimes as grand theft auto and burglary, East St. Louis is laying off roughly one-third of its police force as well as part of its fire department.

East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks announced that the city will layoff 19 of its 62 police officers and 11 firefighters.

One officer is quoted as saying that he will be the only officer on duty during the night shift.

There appears to be a complete disconnect from reality in Washington as Congress continues to gush billions of dollars while cities are suspending or curtailing basic services.

Source: STLToday