Different views on police articles

It’s a tough time to be a police officer. Many of the men and women who wear the blue are a credit to the badge. That being said, we get yet another story of a police cover-up of malfeasance ["Escaped arrest," News, March 13]. It’s an embarrassment and a disgrace.

An officer decorated for drunken-driving arrests should know better. He ruins a man’s life and is penalized four days' pay. Exposed brain matter is not life threatening? It’s small wonder there is distrust of the police department's internal affairs.  

Refusal to give up documents under the Freedom of Information Law? What are they hiding? There should be an independent commission to study corruption within the department and, at a minimum, change in the way things are done. Suffolk County police officers are among the highest paid in the nation. That needs to be justified.

Mark Serro, Medford

Nine pages out of 84 a few weeks earlier ["Cover-up of a cover-up," News, Feb. 13] and now six pages out of 76 in the March 13 paper to malign the police. Yes, sometimes police officers act poorly or improperly. Don’t we all? But an overwhelmingly majority are doing a good job, if not a superlative and courageous one. Why can’t Newsday devote almost 10% of the newspaper to those officers? Why doesn't Newsday accentuate the positive, not the negative?

Coleman Kushner, Woodbury

The only thing worse than taxpayers having to pay victims of actions "unbecoming of a police officer" is for taxpayers to have to pay the offending police officer himself for his actions "unbecoming of a police officer" and the victim of his actions.

Police officers investigating themselves doesn’t work. Time for a change: Eliminate qualified immunity and require personal liability insurance of each officer. Are the legislators listening?

Gerard Byrne, Northport

Newsday's constant bashing of our police is getting tiring. Does Newsday's reporters have nothing better to do than belittle our brave police officers? What is the purpose of writing about incidents that happened eight or 10 years ago? To add fuel to the fire? Our police officers have suffered enough because of news reports.

Ilene Curtis, St. James

SUBSCRIBE

Unlimited Digital AccessOnly 25¢for 6 months

ACT NOWSALE ENDS SOON | CANCEL ANYTIME