POLICE FAILED TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE PROTECTION

Re: "Woman's body found" (news article, May 10).

The circumstances surrounding the disappearance and death of Rachel
Morningstar Hoffman truly make me angry.

This young woman didn't have to die. Yes, she had made some bad
decisions that got her in trouble with the law. However, common sense
dictates that dealing marijuana shouldn't be an offense that gives a
law-enforcement agency the right to put one's life at risk.

Rachel Hoffman may have agreed to assist the Tallahassee Police
Department in a sting operation against those who are now suspected of
killing her. But - and this is a very large but - it was incumbent
upon the TPD to not place her in a position where she could be
seriously injured or killed. Her death is a direct result of the fact
that they involved her in this operation and then failed to adequately
provide for her protection.

If she were my daughter, I would hold the TPD and the city directly
responsible for her death.

John Anderson