Civilized society

Dear Editor: Regarding the editorial by Patty Jackson titled “Police Shootings” (Letters to the Editor, 12/11/14). Patty Jackson calls for rewriting the law to change the way law enforcement interacts with pets and human beings. Well, when human beings start behaving more like animals, then maybe she would have a point but that still hasn’t happened yet.

She criticizes law enforcement by indicating cops are reckless and unaccountable because they have a badge and a gun, however, there is no existing law that states having a badge and gun allows you to act reckless or be held unaccountable. Quite the contrary, you don’t get a badge and a gun if you ARE reckless and unaccountable.

Law enforcement officers go through approximately six months of state-mandated rigorous training in a police academy followed by approximately another six months of field training, with yet a year’s probationary period. But wait there’s more. They also have clean backgrounds and have been selected because of their core values, personal ethics, integrity, honesty, trustworthiness and their character. You don’t get that in a police academy, you inherit that through your life experiences and by setting and obtaining goals and personal achievements.

Now there may be a rogue police officer here and there, but that’s just a fact of life on how someone can slip through the cracks of any profession. The police officers in our great nation are simply the very best in the world, period.

It’s not a problem with cops (as she puts it) shooting unarmed crooks that get caught breaking the law but rather the crook himself by choosing to put himself in harms way and by getting caught breaking the law. I’m sure cops don’t set out on their day to shoot anyone or anything.

There are circumstances that present themselves causing a given level of force. And please don’t blame a cop for shooting someone’s dog when it’s charging at him, but rather blame the owner of that dog for not keeping it in a controlled environment.

Additionally, cops don’t shoot to kill anyone or anything, but things die subsequent to being shot. Cops don’t shoot to wound, graze or frighten anyone either. Cops shoot to stop a threat, that’s it, and if somebody dies or someone’s pet dies as a result of being shot, don’t blame the cops, blame someone for breaking the laws that simply say “don’t break the law.”

On a different note, the police are not some party to any “dictatorship” either, as Ms. Jackson suggests. The United States of America is still a democracy; if you don’t believe me, just ask any veteran.  By the way, if you want a law for everything, then you’re encouraging a dictatorship!

Moving on, Ms. Jackson decided to compare Mexico with Nazi Germany?  Simply ridiculous. I’m unaware of any genocide taking place in Mexico.  I think she needs a trip to the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance, in Los Angeles, to learn more about what Nazi Germany was really like, a far cry from anything taking place in Mexico today.  To compare Mexico with Nazi Germany is to minimize what really took place in Nazi Germany and that is rude, insensitive, offensive and just plain insulting.

Ms. Jackson closed her editorial with “I think we should start acting like a civilized society.” Well, if everyone acted civilized all the time, we wouldn’t need cops with guns now would we. But we don’t, so before you wage a war with cops, you had better make friends with your enemies first.

Dan Romo

Downey

Dear Editor:

Ms. Jackson wants to rewrite the laws. Those who voted for Prop. 47 did change the laws.

Stealing a firearm is now a misdemeanor. Armed robbery, residential burglary, child abuse and assault with a deadly weapon are now eligible for early release. Burglaries will skyrocket due to early release of drug offenders who need cash to feed their addiction.

Officers are confronted by the lawless armed with guns, knives, and also unarmed. Many officers have been overpowered by the unarmed resulting in injured and murdered officers. Taking a violent or uncooperative suspect into custody is not pretty. Use of force becomes necessary when a suspect decides he does not want to go to jail.

So please, Ms. Jackson, don’t second guess the split second decision a police officer has to make when confronting a suspect who wants to do harm to the officer.

Bob Rodriguez

Downey

Dear Editor:

We go to sleep every night knowing the men and women who put on that badge are there keeping us safe. We are blessed with the finest law enforcement in the world and for someone to equate these brave men and women to Nazis and Mexican cartels needs a wakeup call.

Simple facts speak for themselves: 319 million people live in the USA, 800,000 officers pin that badge on daily to keep us safe. When all is said and done, these officers will make 12 million arrests yearly while being involved in approximately 600 fatal shootings. You do the math; it sure doesn’t sound like Nazi storm troopers killing at will to me.

I thank God every day for our police officers. Oh, did I mention 50-plus men and women wearing a badge will be shot and killed this year by people who don’t know how to act civilized?

Dennis Pagenkopp

Downey

Dear Editor:

Lately, there seems to be an increase in the breakdown of law and order, commencing with the President and administration.

Lawbreakers want to be overlooked and rewarded for unlawful activity. Overwhelm the system in many cities until they have no support from law officers.

Felonies are being downgraded to misdemeanors, until they won’t mean nothing. Corrupt politicians don’t get jail time, illegal aliens still crossing unguarded borders. President only obeying laws he wants. The fish stinks at the head.

Without law and order, we can lose our country to lawbreakers. Freedom doesn’t mean you can do anything you want to do, unless it is lawful. Words inciting riots and destruction of innocent people’s homes and businesses are like hollering “Fire!” in a crowded theater, and should be persecuted with long prison sentences like 50 years time. Those innocent people never done nothing to deserve destruction. That was their life and dreams destroyed. Violence and riots call for martial law enforcement speedily.

I hope you all never get in need of a cop when trouble faces you. Maybe you could call Al Sharptongue, so called reverend. Nothing reverent about him, period. America is slowly being chipped away and crippled by liberal political correctness. What justice is there in rioting, looting and burning down your town’s stores and buildings? They didn’t cause anything wrong.

The traveling motorists did not cause any problems that their right to travel is impeded by lawbreakers blocking intersections, highways and local streets. That’s wanton lawbreaking any way you’d care to look at it. Police should use water cannons to wet and cool down some of them hotheads bent on law breaking. Overwhelm comes to mind.

Politicians of all parties have stomach trouble (no guts) by letting them get away with it. We can’t have anarchy.

Joe Cvetko

Bellflower

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Published: Dec. 18, 2014 - Volume 13 - Issue 36