Get involved: Police chief is right. He needs help to solve crimes.

We could spend all day talking about the reasons local crime victims do not want to get involved.

And most of them would be legitimate.

But the reality is -- as Goldsboro police Chief Jeff Stewart said today -- if everyone sits back and waits for someone else to speak up, there will be more crime in Goldsboro.

It is the old idea of taking back a neighborhood.

If you want your community to be safer, you have to be part of making that happen.

You have to tip police off about drug dealers. And if you see something going down in your back yard, you have to be the one to dial 911.

The truth is the criminal element counts on just this sort of fear and reluctance to deal with law enforcement. That is how crimes remain unsolved and robberies and break-ins unpunished.

And it is how drugs end up on your street corner and in your children's schools.

There are protests about everything these days -- and leadership about nothing.

This is a campaign that would benefit every single citizen in the city of Goldsboro and perhaps even save a life or two.

It won't be easy. But doing the right thing never is.

It is a matter of deciding that this city is not going to be at the mercy of criminals -- and then helping the local police to make sure it happens.

Published in Editorials on September 24, 2014 11:47 AM