Posted by PO on 11/9/2009, 8:56 am
No laughing matter
The "Bird's Eye View" (Oct. 18) featured a sarcastic "Wheel of Misconduct" focusing on allegations of police misconduct and, in some cases, convictions. Police officers should be held to the highest standards of ethics and integrity. I demand it and have not shied away from internal investigations since becoming chief.
However, to compare the law and the justice system to a game was offensive to crime victims and every honest and hard-working police officer who puts his or her life on the line every day for too much stress and too little pay.
These investigations and the justice system are not games, jokes or issues to be taken lightly. Ninety-nine percent of our 1,320 officers do not make the news. They take people accused of murder, child molestation and robbery off of our streets. They risk their lives doing so. They have been shot, shot at, kicked, punched and spit on, and still they show up to work in the pursuit of justice and to make our city safer. They do not ask for publicity for their heroism, for staying up at night going over cases in their minds or for doing the right thing. Yet those acts are countless.
The 1 percent who are accused of abusing the community's trust have been shown the door. The police department has initiated or contributed to the investigations that led to the termination of their employment. And the department will continue to do so.
It may be an item of amusement to the Post-Dispatch, but it's no laughing matter to the men and women of this department or the people of St. Louis.
Col. Daniel Isom — St. Louis
Chief of Police, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department
Respect, not sarcasm
I was disheartened to see "Wheel of Misconduct" (Oct. 18). This curiously lighthearted treatment of recent allegations of police misconduct was particularly striking because it appeared just days after an officer lost his life in the line of duty.
As a career prosecutor, I do not view the criminal justice system as a game show, with winners and losers. This is very serious business with human life at the center of each and every crime and act of violence.
The hard-working men and women of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department risk their lives every day to keep us safe. And, while I am very concerned about the criminal allegations directed toward fewer than 1 percent of police officers, I can place those cases in the proper perspective because they are being managed with the same level of scrutiny, fairness and pursuit of justice as all cases that come through the system.
The reality I see is this: The Post-Dispatch is not large enough to hold the thousands of examples of outstanding work police officers perform without fanfare, acknowledgement or public recognition. They deserve our respect and admiration, not sarcasm and ridicule.
Jennifer M. Joyce — St. Louis
St. Louis Circuit Attorney
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