LETTERS: Compliance would avert tragic endings

To the editor:

After reading the coverage of the Ferguson, Mo., incident, I must confess that I find the catch phrase “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” both ironic and a dichotomy. The victim, Michael Brown, did just the opposite. In fact, he attacked a police officer in his patrol car.

As a former law enforcement officer, I can say that one of the leading causes of suspect injury and death is noncompliance to a police officer’s commands. When most people are stopped by police, it is for a citation, and the encounter ends peacefully. The driver may not be happy receiving a ticket, but he accepts it, and officer and citizen go on their way. The same holds true for many other incidents, whether it is an arrest for driving under the influence, serving a warrant or catching a burglar. If the suspect submits to arrest, doesn’t fight, doesn’t resist and is otherwise compliant, the suspect is taken into custody and inducted into the judicial system.

The option not to obey police commands is the suspect’s choice and can result in tragedy. Suspects literally put their lives in jeopardy by escalating what could have been a simple arrest or citation into a life-threatening encounter. When a drunk decides to fight, when a suspect decides to flee or elude in a vehicle, when a suspect doesn’t put his hands up or surrender, when someone grabs at the cop’s gun, when someone points an object at a cop in a dark alley, these are personal choices that can have dire consequences.

The police don’t possess Star Trek phasers that can instantly knock someone unconscious. If they had such technology, chaotic incidents such as those in Ferguson could be instantly contained. For now, there are two solutions to ending the need for police force. One is obvious: Don’t put yourself in an adversarial position with police in the first place. The second solution: If you find yourself in the position of being a lawbreaker and you get caught, obey the arresting officer. It is the only way that all parties can walk away unharmed. Stay safe, and let a judge figure it out.

The Review-Journal ran a case-by-case scenario of all deadly force encounters recently, and the common thread linking the majority of police shootings is noncompliance. At the end of the day, law enforcement is doing its job: protecting the public. In doing so, officers often have to protect their own lives. Most of us have the common sense to know what is right and wrong. All of us know that fighting with a cop is the wrong thing to do. Putting your hands up and surrendering is the right thing to do.

But we have to make that catchy phrase — “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” — more than a temporary slogan. We have to put it into practice. Then the tragedies will end.

RON MOERS

HENDERSON

DUI checkpoints

To the editor:

I support all efforts to curb drinking and driving. However, the DUI checkpoints I’ve gone through seem like a very inefficient way to accomplish it. The checkpoints use a huge number of officers, cruisers and motorcycles that just seem to sit there.

Instead of concentrating all that manpower in one spot, spread it out to the intersections where the red-light runners are. I believe police would catch more drunken drivers that way, or at least they’d be ticketing dangerous drivers. That would send a better message.

RAY BYROM

LAS VEGAS

Immigration policy

To the editor:

I am sick and tired of our federal government feeding us the canard that we can’t deport the 11 million-plus undocumented immigrants presently residing in this country. Following are some common-sense ways to assure self-deportation.

First, strictly enforce e-verify with hefty fines for those who hire undocumented immigrants, be it companies or individual homeowners getting yard work done. Second, take away all benefits, including, but not limited to: welfare payments; food stamps; school access for children of undocumented immigrants (many of our failing public schools can be attributed to non-English-speaking children); and all medical care except in cases of life-threatening emergencies.

For those of you who say sending back documented children (those born in the U.S.) is cruel, remember that it’s the parents’ choice on whether to take their children with them back to their native countries.

Of course, the most important and first step in assuring the security of our country would have to be securing the border. It can be done, no matter what many of our illustrious politicians say. Think Israel and South Korea, both of which have almost impenetrable borders.

JOHN J. ERLANGER

LAS VEGAS

Invest in Las Vegas

To the editor:

MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts are pursuing projects in Massachusetts, with both companies taking on about $1 billion in debt. Las Vegas made these two giants great. We spent our money here in Nevada, in all your casinos. Why not spend your money here?

Our schools need money for repairs, teachers, new classrooms and books. Our roadways need improving, we need more cops on the streets to combat gangs, and we need more homeless shelters. Perhaps customers should gamble elsewhere.

JACK ROGERS

LAS VEGAS