North Manchester Bank Robbery

The First Financial Bank in downtown North Manchester, Indiana, was robbed Thursday morning at approximately 10:40. The robber displayed a gun and made his getaway with an undisclosed amount of cash. The robber was described as a man of slender build, between 5' 8" and 6', with short dark hair. No one was harmed in the incident.

This is the first bank robbery in North Manchester. On June 17 the Lake City Bank in Silver Lake (which is about 15 miles from North Manchester) was robbed, and the suspect fits the same description as yesterday's bank robber.

My hometown of North Manchester is a small town of approximately 6,000 residents, and we seldom have this sort of excitement here. Our "Department of Public Safety" personnel usually keeps themselves busy arresting drunk drivers and potheads, making ambulance runs, and putting out the occasional fire.

This isn't the most challenging community in which to be a law enforcement officer, but as the meth problem grows in this area the amount of crime is also growing. In a town where you once could safely leave your doors unlocked, the homeowner doesn't dare anymore. Local businesses and homeowners' garages are being broken into at night, you can't leave anything of any value in your yard unless you're willing to risk its disappearance, and drug-related overdoses and assaults are also becoming common. Meth lab busts are beginning to happen with increasing regularity.

Although I'm not aware of any reports of children who have been abducted by strangers, parents are increasingly reluctant to let their children roam. We do have registered sex offenders in the area. Our own younger grandchildren are instructed to only ride bikes or play in the neighborhood where we can see them from our house.

Small towns have traditionally thought to be safer than urban areas, but statistics show that property crimes, assaults, and break-ins are happening at a higher rate in small towns, at an average of 50% higher than larger cities.

While drug use is declining in large cities, it is increasing in up in small towns. As the crackdown on drugs in metropolitan areas becomes more intense, dealers are moving their business to small towns.

In my much younger partying days, alcohol and pot were everywhere, but hard drugs were rarely seen. Everyone had a good time and there was very seldom any drug-related violence. Cocaine moved in first, now we are also dealing with Oxycontin abuse, methamphetamine, and heroin. A local pharmacy was robbed a few years ago, the bandit jumped behind the counter demanding Oxycontin before making his getaway.

I personally know of people who make their living selling their legitimately physician-prescribed Oxycontin and other narcotic pain-killers. One young man I know who truly needs this drug for pain relief and would not consider engaging in the illegal activity of selling it as a recreational drug is viewed with suspicion by his own physician whenever he asks for a refill.

As Bob Dylan once wrote, "The times, they are a-changin'." A small town isn't the place to move to anymore if you're wanting to escape crime. Most of our local industry has been closed down, thanks to outsourcing, leaving a high rate of unemployment. Our young people have little reason to remain in a town with few opportunities, and those with any ambition move on to larger towns and cities. Families move on to places where the parents can find gainful employment. Our historic little town is becoming a community of retired persons, college students, hamburger flippers and wastrels.

North Manchester has been my home since I was a toddler, and I mourn its demise.

　

Resources:

http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2002/drug-use-down-in-big-cities.html

http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/230766

http://www.topix.net/city/north-manchester-in

personal experience