PROTECT, SERVE, AND CLOCK OUT...
Written By Zara Campbell

[!] A photo taken by Zara Campbell, depicting the East Falls Police Department. With their known slogan "Protect and Serve,"

The EFPD—officially the East Falls Police Department, but let’s not pretend they’re anything more than a logo on a half-empty building has been around for years. But what have they really been doing all that time? Once upon a time, East Falls dealt with low-level stuff—some kid shoplifting, the occasional neighborhood squabble. Now? People are ending up in the hospital or worse—and the cops are nowhere to be found.

So what gives?

Has the East Falls PD simply decided crime’s no longer their business? Or have they just gotten too comfortable behind the safety of their squad cars and stale donut boxes to do what they were sworn to do?

Lately, hostage situations have become the new normal in East Falls. People are being held at knifepoint, stabbed, and traumatized—and the police show up late, if they show up at all. These aren’t isolated cases. This is a pattern. And while the city bleeds, the EFPD stands around with their thumbs in their belts, sipping coffee and shrugging like it’s all above their pay grade.

It's not just negligence—it’s apathy. It’s cowardice. And frankly, it’s insulting to every resident trying to survive in this city.

East Falls deserves better than a badge and a PR statement. We need action. We need accountability. Because right now, the only thing more dangerous than the criminals... is the silence from the people who are supposed to stop them.

And if the police can’t handle that job, maybe it’s time we stop pretending they can.

This is Zara Campbell with the Falls Chronicle, signing off.