If you follow orders, no one gets hurt

To the editor:

In response to the news coverage, letters and commentaries on the Henderson police shooting of Deshira Selimaj and the resulting coroner's inquest:

I am a retired Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer. I had children before I became a police officer, and they were always told to listen to what a police officer told them to do. I explained to them that if you take issue with the officer, come home and tell us. If you are issued a citation, go to court and explain it to the judge. That's what they are there for.

If all parents and folks in authority would instill that in the children who are our future, we as police officers would not have to take action on the people who just can't see beyond the situation at that moment.

None of us ever wants to take the life of another human being. So please, please, just listen and follow directions when a police officer gives you the information you need to hear, and comply with it at that time. That way we all go home and no one gets hurt. The courts and the Internal Affairs division are at your disposal when you have left the presence of the officer.

All of the officers and you, the citizens, need to leave your egos at home. Let's try to help each other. There is enough to worry about in this world without fighting each other.

Russ White

HENDERSON

Cutting back

To the editor:

I write this as an advance apology to the small business owners, restaurants and entertainment venues of Las Vegas. You won't be seeing me around much anymore. With regular unleaded gasoline at my corner station soaring past $3.50 a gallon and rapidly approaching $4, I can't afford to go out much or buy anything beyond the basics.

As the cost of fuel continues to skyrocket and our economy approaches the edge of the abyss, we are all in for considerable belt-tightening and tough financial times. I'm not the only one cutting back, and as more of us do, it's probable there could be significant layoffs, more businesses may fail and we might find ourselves mired in a deep recession -- or worse.

When you get laid off, have to declare bankruptcy or your job is outsourced or your business goes under, don't be angry with me. Vent your frustrations toward the current administration for kowtowing to the oil industry and for its absolutely insane foreign and domestic policies. Scream at both houses of Congress and both political parties for their ineffectiveness and complete lack of competent leadership. Raise your clenched fist not at me, but at the bloodsucking executives of Exxon Mobil, Chevron-Texaco, ConocoPhillips, Shell, et al., whose insatiable greed is shameful and sinful.

Look for me at the library. It's free, so I can afford it -- if I walk there.

Lance Jensen

HENDERSON

'Time out' for schools

To the editor:

When will Clark County taxpayers realize their schools require some attention, other than money? The latest round of math failures on top of previously announced student stupidity could ring some chimes.

Taxpayers should force a "time out" onto the school hierarchy and cause them to step back for a total examination of systemic disorders. No excuses should be accepted for the failure of classroom instruction pending full validation.

First and foremost, justification is due for the myriad "administrators": their numbers, salaries and job descriptions. Who are they, what are they doing, why are they doing it, and what pay, plus perks, are they receiving? Are they worth busting the budget?

Second, look at teacher hiring, oversight and advancement practices. Examine what is being taught in the taxpayer-funded "teacher training center" and why. Investigate successful and experienced teachers from other regions being excluded from hiring without public explanations. Question required courses for new hires and periodic courses beyond their college degrees for others, and how these apply to grade school teaching. Are teacher yokes too weak or too tight?

Finally, use the "time out" to examine what is happening in the classrooms to disenchant our dedicated teachers and those who want to learn. Determine what is really contributing to classroom failures, and why teachers are passing these failures to the next level.

Overall, learn what must be done so everyone may enjoy the satisfaction of school system successes -- more important than salary to most educators.

Richard E. Law

LAS VEGAS