Letters to the Editor of the Pahrump Valley Times

Force should be the last resort police have to use

Here we go again allowing cops to be judge, jury and executioners. The Thursday, July 9, 2020, edition of the LV Review-Journal printed the article “LV police change neck hold policy, Life danger situation only.” “The Metropolitan Police Department announced Wednesday that it changed its policy on neck restraint technique to only allow it in life-threatening situations.”

This sounds exactly like the police tactic of the past where an officer merely needed to say “I felt threatened.” This was the defense for either shooting to kill or choking to kill. Why do so many feel threatened? Is the boogey man under their beds every night? Most situations do not need to resolved with force.

Police don’t seem to understand that they chose to be police officers. Danger comes with the job. They always feel threatened during a confrontational situation. This should never be the reason to kill someone. Police should accept risk as part of the job they decided to do. Nobody forced them to become police. It is a volunteer job.

The solution is for police to learn to de-escalate confrontational situations. They should not use force and violence first. Role playing on regular basis will help them learn to de-escalate confrontation. Veteran police need to script confrontational situations based on experience and teach rookies. Our men and women in uniform should not be the biggest, meanest gang on the street.

Give people space. Police must stop invading personal space. If someone is walking away from a police officer, they are not a threat. Their word is not law and they cannot shoot someone in the back who is walking away. Being a cop is not license to be judge, jury and executioner on the streets.

Jean William Frenette

Our many freedoms could very possibly be at stake

Could this be the day the rich elitist buy freedom’s demise? Will our republic become another Cuba, Venezuela, or North Korea due to the people being afraid to vote? Where are the pro-American organizations like veterans of all wars and 80 million gun owners going to see how close we as a free country are to becoming just another rich man’s controlled slave country?

The rioters have all been indoctrinated to think they will have their day. Yet every country that had their help ended up eliminating most of them when the rioters wanted their share. Look at Cuba. Their prisons are full because of the original change (to Castro) to present government control. It always happens as it did during Russia’s change to their communism dictator type of government now.

Wake up Democratic and Independent voters, we need law and order to survive as a nation with more individual freedoms at present than any other country. Vote for freedom!

Henry Hurlbut