Stranger Danger

Stranger Danger      by: Jim Silvania

Stranger Danger is what parents and grandparents have been telling their children and grandchildren for years; “Don’t get into a car with a stranger” But in the “strange” world of today the Ohio P.U.C.O and the State Legislators who sponsored HB 237 now say that’s OK.  It’s ok to let your child get into the vehicle of just anybody; therefore, placing that child at risk.

As parents and grandparents, we let our children get on to a school bus or into a taxi with a stranger because we are under the insurance that the driver of that vehicle has undergone an extensive background investigation. A background investigation where the driver has submitted his or her fingerprints to a State or Federal Agency. An agency that verifies that said individual is a citizen and not a felon, a sexual predator and who has the right to drive that vehicle, which is properly insured.  Does any of those background check apply to Lyft and Uber? No.

The City of Columbus once respected the wishes of the voters to provide for a safe environment for the transportation of our children to and from school but the State Legislature in HB 237 saw otherwise. They took the regulation and compliance power away from the local jurisdictions and gave it to the P.U.C.O.  and what does the P.U.C.O. do with that regulation and compliance power, nothing. They rely of self-reporting data from the industry (Uber & Lyft). 

Uber’s process for onboarding drivers is dangerously negligent and places your child in danger. Neither Uber nor Lyft uses fingerprints or law enforcement to background-check their drivers. And Uber doesn’t even bother to meet with drivers in person before allowing them to ferry passengers.
The result is a series of incidents involving “ridesharing” passengers being harmed and criminal offenders being behind the wheel:  So far 49 deaths have been attributed to Uber & Lyft drivers, 92 assaults, 366 sexual assaults, 16 kidnappings, and 98 imposters posing as Uber or Lyft drivers.

The above are facts. Facts apparently ignored by the State Legislators voted for HB 237. Ignored by the Ohio P.U.C.O. who don’t think it’s their responsibility to make sure that Uber and Lyft drivers are following the law. That Uber and Lyft drivers are licensed, insured not felons and in compliance with the minimal requirements of HB 237.  Uber and Lyft must be forced to ensure that their drivers undergo a fingerprint State or Federal Background check which are monitored (Rap-Back) while the driver is operating for their entity. 

  At present your child is at risk and the above proves “stranger danger” is in fact at hand when you or your child enter a Uber or Lyft vehicle.

Law Enforcement Candidate NOT!

A Law Enforcement Candidate: NOT!

    In my recently published article “Justice in Ohio” in PI Magazine it was noted that “one only has to watch cable tv’s Investigation Discovery Channel or Spike TV to see the many miscarriages of justice in our state.  Missing women in Chillicothe, OH, in Peeples, OH nine people shot and killed; both remain unsolved. I could go on, but you can catch the rest on either of the above-mentioned TV Channels.”

The question then arises, who was the head law enforcement officer during the time of the above-mentioned tragedies. None other than the Attorney General and candidate for Governor of the State of Ohio, Mike DeWine.

Mike DeWine a living example of Dr. Laurence J. Peter’s Peter Principal. A county prosecutor who should have remained a county prosecutor. Not only has the leading law enforcement officer in Ohio, and his agency failed in their respective duty his prior actions as Lt. Governor exacerbated the illness which lead to the demise of the then head of the then Governor George Voinovich’s Office of Criminal Justice Services, Joseph Gilyard. 

It’s obvious that people have short memories.  Joseph Gilyard while acting as the head of the Office of Criminal Justice Services, was the first to find or note the criminal activity within the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office under the leadership of then-Sheriff Earl Smith.  In his attempt to bring this matter to the public’s eye he stepped on the toes of the leaders of the head of the Franklin County Republican Party. History was to later prove Joseph Gilyard’s accusations were right on the money as Sheriff Smith’s Chief Deputy and bag men were later convicted in Federal Court for violations of the Hatch Act.

But Joe would never know as he was of the receiving end of a hatchet job carried out by then Lt. Governor Mike DeWine at the bequest of then-Governor George Voinovich and John W. Wolfe, Chairman of the Columbus Dispatch a then-Republican newspaper. Mr. Wolfe was the holder of badge No. 1 in the criminal scheme of selling Deputy Sheriff Badges and commissions. Mr. Wolfe’s personal secretary was the Campaign Manager for Sheriff Smith.

A Law Enforcement candidate?  Not!  Just ask the families of the victims of those yet unsolved crimes and Joe Gilyard’s family.