Rabbi Will McCubbins, China Grove, N.C.
♦ That Salisbury, N.C. became a major hideout for “hard cases” and sex offenders in flight from law enforcement from across North Carolina and from Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee comes as no surprise to anyone noticing Salisbury’s meltdown over the last decade. You could even toss in the absconders from Chicago and border cartel towns in Mexico. “Salisbury is the Place”.
Someone on the run can blend in Salisbury easy and find a spot to bed down and go virtually unnoticed until they get caught speeding, pop one convenience store too many, or start messing with underage children and come up on the radar.
Hardly a week goes by when some criminal absconder or sex offender from way outside the county shows up in the Rowan County Detention Center compliments of Sheriff Auten and his deputies. That Salisbury became a magnet for criminal types fleeing justice has not gone unnoticed.
Why has Salisbury become a draw for the criminal element and sex offenders? When I’ve talked to my friends in local law enforcement, retired peace officers, and big shot attorneys on Council Street they’ll all tell you just about the same thing. Salisbury became a HUB CITY for Criminals and Sex Offenders on the run owing to following reasons:
• Words out in the prison networks that Salisbury is a super place to disappear in. Like small cities everywhere they lack the manpower of police departments in larger cities like Charlotte and Raleigh. The Salisbury Police are well known to be badly understaffed and inexperienced.
• The Bury is an easy spot to blend in and go unnoticed. A fellow or woman strolling around in a dirty t-shit, soiled pants, and a gray hoodie is not going to stick out in Salisbury. That’s standard dress in the Municipal Services District.
• The police in Salisbury can’t check the guest list at North Carolina’s largest homeless shelter so a new guy in town can fade into obscurity quickly.
• What is it now? Almost 900 plus abandoned houses in Salisbury to bed down in. Numerous squats and tarp cities around town and down by the creeks provide ready protection from the elements and an entry point for a newbie to the local criminal networks.
• Looking to find heroin, meth, or crack? In Salisbury it’s beyond easy to score drugs Downtown and on many street corners. This easy access lays down the welcome mat for new arrivals.
Salisbury is the Place. It’s got EZ painted all over it.
Still the best advice for law abiding citizens is to get a permit for concealed carry and pack if you have to adventure into the Bury.
