Where are They Now?
by What is the aftermath on a small town when someone poses as a federal agent? The City of Gerald knows all too well the trials and tribulations of rising from the ashes.
When we think of small town law enforcement in rural America most of us might imagine a jovial Marshal or Chief of Police laughing and joking with his deputies. We might even find ourselves thinking of Mayberry where Andy Griffith strolled around town without a gun and could solve everyone’s problems with sagely advice or just by having a friendly ear for people to talk to.
Sadly enough, the days when small towns were isolated from the horrors of “city crime” is long past. In the small rural towns of Missouri where populations seldom exceed 5,000; horrible crimes are being committed and local police departments are hard pressed to find the resources and personnel to combat the issue.
The prominence of drugs such as meth has turned many small towns into hotbeds of criminal activity. These crimes include assaults, burglary, prostitution, stealing, and sometimes even murder. What makes these crimes particularly heinous in small rural communities is the fact that those responsible are often known on a first name basis by a large number of citizens in the town, including their victims.
It might be hard to comprehend by those living in larger cities just how much emotional damage can be done to a small community by a single crime when they are so accustomed to hearing about several horrible events in their own cities that occur each minute. However if you know a victim of an assault, burglary, theft, or God forbid murder; then you understand how it not only effects the victim but all of the friends and family as well.
If we look at a town that has a population of 1,200 citizens it should be easy enough to see how a major crime can impact the community. This crime can be any that one would normally think of as a “city crime”. One of the most common is burglary.
In a burglary someone comes into your home and takes your possessions. In most cases this is done when you and your family is away from your residence. Of course if you are home when this happens then the crime is a more severe felony in the state of Missouri.
So you come home and you notice a window is broken out, you go inside your house and it looks like a tornado has come through. Drawers are turned inside out, cabinets and dressers are turned over, your mattress is flipped away from your bed, and everywhere you look all of your belongings strewn about on the floor. Well, all of the stuff the burglars left behind at least.
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