BY DANVALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY SEPT. 2, 2026) — We are asking our police, fire fighters, and teachers to be nannies, psychiatrists, and social workers for an entire generation of parents who have failed in their prime responsibility. THE PLANET recently talked with a member of the PPD command force and a middle-school teacher. Today, we bring you the police interview.

“You wouldn’t believe the calls we get,” Said Commander X. “As a force, we can’t lose sight of our mission, which is public safety. It’s not to make sure some woman’s kid won’t go to school or to do wake-up calls for the homeless, but more and more our staff gets diverted into these [situations]. Then public safety suffers, and it’s tough.”

We asked CX if he thought the mayor understood the department’s problems. Assured of anonymity, CX answered this way: “In a word, no. He’s a ghost to us. Little support, no engagement. In my opinion, he’s failed miserably. A department like ours can’t function properly without the full backing of this administration, any administration, and that’s what we’re dealing with now. He’s a politician in every bad sense of the word.”

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The Commander went on to say that under Pete Marchetti’s watch, the influx of “the marginals” has “completely got out of control,” taking too much time, energy, and resources from from our source called good policing.’ We need more training in issues related to mental health, that’s apparent. At the same time, we’re being put into situations with seriously ill people for which even trained mental health personnel can’t handle. There’s no way to overstate how bad it’s become on the streets, and still we find little-to-no willingness from [the mayor], council, and the schools [referring to the Administration] to address it. I get the sense that they’re just buried by the size of the problem and they’ve decided to pretend it doesn’t exist. That’s when all the pressure and consequences fall on us, the police.”

The Officer went on to say that the mayor is a “closet defund-the-police” advocate but doesn’t have the courage to openly admit it. He mentioned that after “one of the recent murders, the mayor did a great job — of hiding and avoiding not just dealing with the issue but even admitting there was an issue in the first place. In my opinion that’s a coward.”

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THE PLANET asked his view of the overall force.

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“Like any organization, we have our share of weak links, bad apples. I’m sensing from the new chief a greater awareness of this, and I think that’s been good [for the department]. We have the go-to guys. The ones you want in any situation, especially the tough ones. Sure we have goldbrickers, staff that milk’s OT and sick leave, but overall we’ve got a good bunch. Corruption? Well,  I will say it’s no worse than you find elsewhere. Maybe you want to start across the street [reference to City Hall] first.”

Asked about the department’s biggest need: “More staffing, a better building, and a sense of support from City Hall and the courts.”

We asked CX to define “good policing.”

He mentioned:

• “Having and earning the trust of the community in our work”
• Cutting down on wasted efforts, again mentioning when the cops are asked to respond to “so many Mickey Mouse calls.”
• Using resources wisely.
  • This involves “policing to hot spots” and not spreading staff too thin.
• “We have to recruit better, train better, and mentor better.”
• Having officers with outstanding integrity.
  • Ethics, he said, must be a part of a good officer’s makeup.
  • “You need people with a sense of ‘team.’ We don’t want ‘lone rangers.’ We want officers that support each other and buy into the department strategies.”

THE PLANET thanks Commander X. We extend our full support to a department faced with an unenviable, undoable job and performing heroically, if unappreciated.

We’ll try to have our interview with the middle-school teacher in an upcoming column. We would appreciate your thoughts on public safety in the county seat.

Try to make sense. Try to argue reasonably.

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“Attitude is everything” — Sir Donald Turpentine, Knight of the Bath.

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.

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