LETTER: Instead of police reform, how about ‘parental reform’

As a retired Metro police officer, I am sick and tired of hearing about “police reform” every time there is a national incident involving the death of a suspect at the hands of law enforcement.

I would like to propose the alternative concept of “parental reform.” This requires that the parents must pass an exam before they are permitted to procreate. Once the child is born, the parents (yes, both of them) have 18 years to teach their offspring right from wrong. Once that child reaches his or her 18th birthday and chooses to break the law, the parents no longer have the right to stand before the television cameras, crying as to how their little Johnny was “just turning his life around.” Too late. You’ve failed your child by not rearing him or her properly. It is long overdue that personal responsibility and self-accountability are brought back into the discussion.