THE MESSAGE BEING SENT IS THAT IF THE POLICE MAKE A MISTAKE, SO WHAT?

If I wrote what I'm feeling about the reinstatement of Officer Joseph Bini
to the Denver Police Department, it couldn't be printed.

Joseph Bini is probably a nice guy, but think about this scenario: If a
drunk (probably a nice guy, too) hit a telephone pole, which fell into
Ismael Mena's bedroom and killed him, the drunk would be indirectly
responsible for Mena's death, right? The drunk would probably get prison
time. Bini, also indirectly responsible for Ismael Mena's death in a
mistaken no-knock drug raid, got a vacation with pay, and now gets his job
back.

Manager of Safety Ari Zavaras' comments about "doing what's right" despite
"public outcry" is total bunk. Anybody who bought that better go get the
hook removed from his lip.

As for Denver Police Protective Association spokeman John Wyckoff's
statement that "Mr. Mena would still be alive today if he didn't have a gun
and if he had not fired it," it sounds as if Wyckoff would have asked the
SWAT team to stay for coffee if they burst into his house. As if. What
Wyckoff didn't say is that Mena would still be alive today if Joseph Bini
hadn't given the SWAT team the wrong address.

A no-knock warrant allows cops to bust into a house, arrest the occupants,
throw them in jail, charge them with a crime, and even kill them if they
resist. If they make a mistake, so what? What's the definition of a "police
state"? Isn't that what happened to Ismael Mena? Think about it: You or I
could be next.

My wife asked me if I'd rather live someplace else. That's not the point. I
believe this is the best place on earth to live. No, I don't want to live
anywhere else. Not yet . . .

Israel Davis

Denver