I looked at the calendar for the September term of court. I wanted to know where the defendants live. Here is what I found.

Only 39.6 percent of the defendants charged with drug offenses live in Fayette County. That means 60.4 percent of them brought their drugs from other counties and we caught them here.

I checked non-violent crimes (financial card fraud, theft, forgery, shoplifting, etc.). Nearly eighty percent of those defendants live outside Fayette.

The more serious crimes on the calendar include sex offenses, burglary, aggravated assault, homicide, etc. Sixty-six percent of those defendants live in other counties.

It is clear that the threat is from the outside. It’s us against them. It’s our job to discourage them from coming here to break the law. Start neighborhood watch groups. Report crimes when you see them. Support our law enforcement. Come to jury duty when it’s your turn. The District Attorney’s Office will take it from there.

Our citizens are fed up. Our peace officers are excellent. Our judges are tough. This is not a good place to break the law.

Recently deputies caught a criminal near the north border of the county. The prisoner had a lot to say. He knew the sheriff. He knew the judge. The deputy was making a big mistake. There would be a lawsuit. The deputy replied, “You don’t know where you are, do you? You’re in Fayette County.” The prisoner slouched and mumbled, “They’ll hang a fellow there!”

That’s the message I want them to hear.