Council members victim in crimes

FAYETTEVILLE Council member Ted Mohn says he knows firsthand how crime victims feel, because he has been a victim of home break-ins twice, first in late 2006 and now Tuesday night.

"It's frustrating, you know I feel just as mad now as I did in 2006, the anger hasn't changed," Mohn said.

Crime is also personal for council member Bobby Hurst, his Fayetteville business was also broken into late Tuesday night.

"It's tough and we support law enforcement, but yeah I guess it does hit home, like it did my fellow colleague," Hurst said.

So far, police have not found the burglars. They say they don't think the two break-ins are related and don't think the city leaders were targeted.

And with the Fayetteville City Council considering a new city budget that includes adding 36 additional police officers to the force, both Mohn and Hurst say that their budget decisions won't be affected by what's happened to them.

"Even though it's a tight budget time we are going to do what we can to help fight crime in the city," Hurst said.

"Really it's a community effort it's a social problem here in the city so we got to support the chief," Mohn said.

Fayetteville Police Chief Tom Bergamine says he is on a city wide crusade against crime. He's under a city council mandate to reduce crime in the city, but he says public apathy hurts the effort.

Both Mohn and Hurst say they support the chief and his officers and call the timing of their break-ins a coincidence. But they say it gives them both different perspectives.

Mohn and Hurst say they had already made up their minds to try and fund the police department's request before they became the city's newest crime victims.

Mohn, Hurst and other city council members will meet Monday night to fine tune next year's budget. It's up for a final vote on June 12.

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