I am a strong supporter of our community police – we depend on them to protect us and keep us safe.
My brother was a police officer and I have friends in police forces across the country (one is a county sheriff; another is a retired chief of police for a large metropolitan area). Most police have entered the profession to honorably serve the public. However, our police forces must be carefully recruited so that we only have individuals who are fully suited to serve in this important role.
Our forces must be thoroughly trained and re-trained so they are sensitive to the rights of all of our citizens. We must have leaders within our police forces who set examples of fairness and professionalism toward all members of our community.
There are bad apples and poorly trained or suited individuals in police forces across our nation. These individuals must be identified and dismissed. When these individuals exert excess force and/or unfair treatment to any individual, they must be held accountable. To do otherwise is to diminish the public respect and trust for the others in our police forces who perform their duties with professionalism and fairness.
Karen Clark McManusDurango
