Dear Editor,This past February I was out on a business trip when I got a call from my wife at approximately 9 p.m. She had just gotten a frightening call from her 82-year-old mother who lives alone on Tioga Avenue. She said there was a strange acting, hooded man sitting in a rocking bench on her back patio. I told my wife to call the Sheriff’s Department since Tioga Avenue is just outside the city limits and in their jurisdiction. My wife said the Sheriff’s Office had already been called and she was on her way to her mother’s house. At this point I deemed this an emergency situation and I know the Oakdale Police Department does assist the Sheriff’s Department in situations like this as a courtesy mutual aid response. Like all City Council members and staff I carry a card with the emergency phone numbers for Staff, Dept. Heads, key personnel, and City Council Members. I made the decision to call one of the Oakdale Police Department’s emergency numbers that I had with me, which was Chief West’s cell number.Having a prior situation just a little more than a year ago where my sister, my niece, and my niece’s husband were murdered in a matter of 10 minutes, by having their throats slit by a maniac, I knew how things can quickly turn bad so I saw this as an emergency and I would have called out the National Guard if I had their number at hand to keep this from turning into a devastatingly bad situation.Like Tioga Avenue, we have two other unincorporated areas, Barton Park and Iris Circle, that are surrounded by the City of Oakdale. If I got an emergency call for help from any resident or citizen that lived in those areas, or for that matter any resident of Oakdale in general, I would respond in the same manner because I know how quickly things can escalate and turn horribly bad.I would like to thank the Oakdale Police Department, Chief West, and the Sheriff’s Department for their quick response and for taking away the strange acting character, thus removing my 82-year-old frightened mother-in-law from harm’s way. This person had his buck knife confiscated and was later arrested for an assault on an Oakdale Police Officer.Favoritism … No …Responding to a mutual aid call for help from a resident of Oakdale … Yes.Mayor Farrell JacksonCity of Oakdale
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