(Pamela Cosel, Headline USA) With record numbers of murders in 2020 and 2021 in the city of Columbus, Ohio, the focus of the city’s police department instead is apparently on the unveiling of its new “PRIDE” police car.
At the same time, the rainbow-decorated police vehicle also is painted with the words “Report Hate Crimes.” The vehicle was showcased by Officer Lutz in a video posted on Twitter.
The public was not impressed with the new pride of Columbus PD’s fleet, roasting the LGBTQI+ design and ridiculing the police department for the misguided virtue signaling.
One person asked if the city could a “have a nuclear family cruiser next?” Another declared, “I guarantee you that most of your officers and employees are embarrassed by this nonsense.”
Citizens are not happy that this issue is even close to a priority of Mayor Andrew Ginther, reported USANews.
Murder rates in Columbus are higher than the national norm, with a rate of 0.19 per 1,000 crimes, compared to national statistics of 0.07 per 1,000. Numbers of rapes and robberies are all higher in Columbus than national numbers, according to published statistics. Only the number of assaults is lower, by just .25 per 1,000 incidents.
More than 200 murders happened in Columbus in 2021. In just one week in December, there were seven murders that included the killing of a 16-year-old girl.
Columbus devotes an entire section on its website for the LBGTQ community, with topics “About Columbus LGBTQ Pride,” local resources, a health initiative and so-called cultural competency training. Under health resources, there are 18 organizations focused on the LGBTQI+ community. No other minority groups are singled out on the city’s website in this way.
The tagline on the page states, “Columbus has a reputation for being accepting, welcoming and gay-friendly.” It states that Columbus is the “proud host of the largest Pride Parade in the Midwest!”
Others commenting about the new LGBT cruiser on the police department’s Twitter page asked, “Is this for real?”
“I’m sure that police car will strike fear in the hearts of criminals,” posted another.
Finally, acknowledging that people of color were not recognized, one tweet reads, “Can we get a Juneteenth cruiser?”
