Turmoil in Auburn has deep roots; why are Barrow schools so unpopular?

That the problem is widespread, however, is of little comfort to Auburn city officials, who must now clean up the mess left behind by weak APD leadership.

The truth is, not every small town needs a police department. A lot of towns in Georgia are in serious financial trouble today because they allowed their police departments to suck up too much of their limited financial resources. On top of that, loose police agencies create management issues that many small towns are not equipped to handle.

Auburn is probably large enough for a police department, but perhaps one not as big as it has been operating. The larger the department, the larger the problems.

For one thing, small town police agencies often end up with officers who were cast off by other, larger agencies. Small towns can’t afford to pay enough to hire from the top-tier candidates and as a result, often end up with officers who got in trouble elsewhere. Those issues seldom go away.

But a bigger problem is the inability of small town departments to control the “cowboy culture” of policing. Police work often attracts those who like the adrenalin rush it brings. The ability to wield power with a badge and gun is a powerful psychological agent that many simply don’t handle well. Keeping the power-ego under control is difficult, especially with young officers who lack the maturity to deal with the authority they’ve been given.

Bringing maturity to the job and keeping control of officers is a never-ending task for police leaders. And it’s not easy. On the one hand, police leaders who are gung-ho with a military mind-set often create their own problems by trying to run a police department as a paramilitary organization. Police work isn’t military work; confuse the two and there are massive problems.

Yet a lack of tough discipline on rank-and-file officers by department leaders is also a problem. Too little structure and lax oversight opens the door to all kinds of abuse. Finding the right balance is an ongoing task.

Auburn has a somewhat long and troubled history with its police department, so to many these recent incidents are just another example of a checkered past.

But to their credit, city leaders took swift and tough action when they learned of all the problems. And they didn’t try to hide the issues and were open with the public about what had happened. Such transparency in troubled times does reassure the public that government leaders will hold the APD accountable.

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Just what is it that makes the Barrow County School System so unpopular? The Journal’s online poll last week showed that around 70 percent of those responding give the school system a C, D or F grade with only 28 percent rating it an A or B.

And not just that poll indicates a lack of respect for the system. Conversations with community leaders and average citizens, and many of the comments about local education on the Journal website, strongly indicate a lack of respect for the system.

Why is that? Is it due to the system’s standardized test scores? Is it the system’s elected leaders? Is it administrative problems? Is it teacher problems? Is it sports related? Is it a general community attitude problem about education in general?

Local school systems are always controversial and have periods of ups-and-downs. But when less than one-third of citizens grade their local schools in the A-B range, there’s something deeper going on.

If you have an idea about this, please email me at my email address below. This is an important community issue that merits some feedback from taxpayers, parents, school officials and others.

Mike Buffington is co-publisher of the Barrow Journal. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.