LETTER: School cop tackles student at Durango

I won’t pretend to know why the Clark County School District police officer tackled the student to the ground in the recent incident at Durango High School. But there are some things I believe that wanna-be photo journalists should be aware of. I am a 30-year detective, now retired, from Los Angeles whose uniformed patrol time was spent before cell phones were so prevalent. I’ve observed people getting their cell phones in officers’ faces during an official investigation.

This creates a situation dangerous to the officer as well as the public.

Most police now days have a gun, taser, mace and baton attached to their gun belt that can be easily grabbed and used against the officer and nearby citizens. Cellphones have cameras that can shoot pictures or video from more than 15 feet away. It is not necessary to get up close and personal to get your pictures to sell to the news. Use some common sense and don’t create a possible deadly occurrence.