Police shooting first, asking questions later
To the editor:
Why do local police so frequently find it necessary to kill someone when making an arrest?
In the past week, two unarmed people were shot and killed when confronted by police. A female driver was killed because she backed up in the direction of Henderson officers in a car that had stopped because it was “stuck” in gravel off the road. The other victim made a “furtive movement” when Las Vegas police officers with bullet-proof vests and weapons drawn were serving a narcotics warrant at his apartment.
We can expect the kangaroo court that reviews police shootings to buy the official police line that all five of the Henderson officers who shot the female driver were suddenly in fear for their lives, and also found it necessary to shoot the passenger in the car to protect themselves.
The second killing is the result of sending several officers and detectives to serve a narcotics warrant in a residence. The victim’s nine-month pregnant wife would have probably persuaded her husband to go peacefully if ever given half a chance.
Someone on the city councils, on the County Commission, in the police departments or in the courts needs to address this issue by explaining that shooting a suspect (especially unarmed ones) should be the last resort, not the first, knee-jerk reaction.
Obviously, local police feel they have tacit approval to shoot anyone by whom they feel threatened.
T. Lane
Las Vegas
Third-party candidates
To the editor:
Glenn Cook’s Sunday column, “Ten races will decide everything,” mentioned a third-party candidate in only one legislative race. This omission is glaring because third-party candidates will affect several legislative races in November’s elections.
In the District 9 Senate race, where I am running as an Independent American Party candidate, only 25,320 votes were cast in the primaries. There are 37,927 voters in that district who are registered Independent American, Libertarian or other. Because I am the only candidate other than the Republican and Democrat in that race, there is a very good chance that the voters registered other will vote for me instead of one of the other candidates.
If you are going to examine political races, you should do it thoroughly and include third-party candidates in your analysis so that voters have all the facts on which to base a decision.
This year, many voters are disgruntled and may vote for the third-party candidates. In fact, the Independent American Party is the fastest-growing party in Nevada.
Tom Jones
Las Vegas
No heroes
To the editor:
The Clark County Firefighters Local 1908 wants us to pay for heavy rescue and hazardous materials teams irrespective of need (paid political advertisement, Monday Review-Journal). The union’s ad then lists multiple possible events requiring these teams without telling us how many times they actually occur.
Since 9/11, every firefighter has come to believe himself or herself a hero. Sorry, but you can only don the mantle if you were there. The behavior of Clark County firefighters, exemplified by their “on the clock” charity boot collections, falls a little bit short of that.
A hero is somebody earning minimum wage who, year after year, manages to feed his family, educate his children, keep them free from drugs and crime — and still pay the taxes that keep Clark County firefighters earning more than $100,000 per year.
Graham H. Tye
Las Vegas
Dump Harry
To the editor:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s approval numbers are in friends-and-family territory because, among other offenses, he back-stabbed American soldiers when he publicly surrendered the Iraq war in April 2007, and he bought votes with our tax money to pass socialized medicine. Manipulating the Democratic primary process to get his Chucky-Doll son the nomination for governor also hurt him.
We’re supposed to re-elect Sen. Reid because of his power as majority leader. But he’s bringing home only 68 cents for every dollar Nevadans pay out in federal taxes. Sen. Paul Laxalt managed 98 cents.
Sen. Reid’s ads credit him with a handful of green jobs, but Nevada’s unemployment rate is 4 points higher than the national average. Sen. Reid’s latest “accomplishment” is to kill seniors’ Medicare Advantage in exchange for a few “donut hole” dollars.
Lying about Sharron Angle’s policy positions won’t save Sen. Reid from his record. Only mass amnesia among Nevada voters will do that.
Lynn Muzzy
Minden
Mistakes happen
To the editor:
In less than 100 years, civilization has gone from the horse and buggy to automobiles, jet aircraft and sending people to the moon by rocket ship.
In every advance of science and technology, there have been mistakes that caused death and destruction.
The Gulf oil spill is, sadly, another example of a tragedy that occurred in the advance of science and technology. There will always be mistakes and errors.
We need to learn from these mistakes to improve our lives and stop placing blame before examining and correcting errors.
Daniel Camillo
LAs Vegas
