Police shooting fails smell test

To the editor:

The Henderson police shooting that left Deshira Selimaj dead raises some very genuine questions concerning the protocol of neutralizing this lady ("Details of shooting disputed," Feb. 22 Review-Journal).

In spite of Chief Richard Perkins' defense of the officer who shot Mrs. Selimaj, it would appear that officers at the scene did not use professional and discreet action to avoid killing a mother in view of her children.

I have a son who is a sheriff in California. I do understand the dangers police face while doing their jobs. Police charge that Mrs. Selimaj wielded a knife and threatened her own children, but witnesses say otherwise, including her husband, Zyber Selimaj. Also, that Tasers had no effect on Mrs. Selimaj leaves questions about whether they were properly administered -- or even used at all.

If police got close enough to have pulled any of the children away from her, then why is it that three or four burly officers couldn't have apprehended her with physical force -- not with trigger-happy force, but by simply overpowering her?

It's difficult to believe that Henderson officers are incapable of employing the sort of action that could have prevented the shooting and killing a mom in front of her children. There is absolutely no excuse for this brutal action. The officer who killed Mrs. Selimaj will face some serious questions in the days ahead. To have killed this woman for reasons contrary to witnesses and her husband demands accountability.

Robert Burgess

HENDERSON

Illegals in schools

To the editor:

Once again, we are treated to socialist name-calling, this time by self-proclaimed "educrat" Adam Sawyer ("Illegals and the public schools? Don't ask," Feb. 20 letter to the editor).

According to Mr. Sawyer, anyone who has concerns about educating the children of illegals is, by definition, "short-sighted, small-minded, mean-spirited, and (of course) bigoted."

Let me suggest a few more descriptions: sick and tired, and damned mad. Sick and tired of the self-serving pronouncements of Mr. Sawyer and his ilk, whose quest for ever-increasing amounts of money knows neither boundaries or rationalities.

He points out that a Supreme Court ruling requires the nation's schools "to serve all children living in its territory, regardless of immigration status." This short-sighted ruling can and must change, along with our government's refusal to uphold existing immigration laws and its failure to protect its legal residents from all the adverse consequences of unfettered illegal immigration.

This is where the "damned mad" part comes in. Mr. Sawyer and his peers continue to do everything possible to prevent the ordinary guy on the street from fully understanding how much we are paying to educate those here illegally. His bunch fully understand that if Average Joe finds out that many of those billions of tax dollars go to educate the children of people who shouldn't be here to begin with, there are going to be a lot of people who are "damned mad" to the point of doing something about it.

And if up to one-half of the charges of the public schools were to suddenly go home -- back to their country of origin -- the constant whine of the "educrat" for more money would begin to be recognized as the scam that it is.

DAVE DOWNER

HENDERSON

Californication

To the editor:

Increase our taxes for highway improvements; increase our taxes for education; increase our taxes for police protection.

What happened to the huge $800 million tax increase ex-Gov. Kenny Guinn pushed through a few years ago? It was so large that we received a rebate. Now it is just absorbed into the system and they want more.

With the price of gasoline, groceries and utilities these days, my paycheck has already shrunk. I refuse to vote for any tax increase unless I know exactly where the money is being spent. We learned a lesson with the increased sales tax for increased police protection. Do we have more police in our neighborhoods as promised? Not hardly, and with a little research you can see where that money went.

Pay attention educators, police and Nevada Department of Transportation. I will personally fight any tax increase tooth and nail without accountability. You are taxing us to death, while you increase your own salaries and benefits. Get rid of the fat in your departments before you come to us for more.

I still remember when Nevada was a tax-friendly state. We do not want the California system in Nevada.

NATE HANSEN

HENDERSON