ASSESSING RESPONSIBILITY IN POLICE SHOOTINGS

In response to the Oct. 5 letter from John Chasnoff, I would like to ask
him: How many police officers do you want to see die in the line of duty
while hesitating to pull the trigger worrying about civil and criminal
repercussions?

The area has seen enough officers die without creating civilian oversight
committees and new federal laws. There are already laws on the books to
cover willful misconduct by anyone, including police officers. Will one or
1,000 more laws change anything for the better?

Let's not forget that Earl Murray and Ronald Beasley chose to break the law
by failing to follow the commands of police officers, while in performance
of their duty.

In response to the people protesting police shootings, I have a proposal.
Each and every one of them needs to volunteer to be harnessed in front of a
police officer and have the ability to tell the officer when he is allowed
to shoot and at what part of the body or vehicle to aim at. Let's see how
many takers we have.

We need to be behind our police officers . . . or volunteer to get in front
of them.

Tim Mahoney, O'Fallon, Mo.

I am offended that U.S. Attorney Raymond W. Gruender felt he had to write a
letter to the editor (Oct. 5) trying to explain away the killing of Earl
Murray and Ronald Beasley by two police officers.

I am white, not African-American, but I still see two white police officers
and two white prosecuting attorneys trying to explain away what is
blatantly obvious: These two black men were gunned down for the crime of
low-level drug dealing by the driver of the vehicle.

Call it what you want, explain it any way you want to, but our justice
system didn't serve all of the people in this matter.

Kirk Hough, Clayton

While critics blame the police, they appear to ignore the facts. The two
men were told they were under arrest and to raise their hands. They did not
comply. They tried to escape. The police felt threatened and shot.

I've been stopped by the police, and each time I've made it a point to do
exactly what I've been told. I have yet to be shot for complying with the
officer's directions. I must admit I was not a known drug dealer, was not
hanging out with a known drug dealer and did not have drugs in my vehicle.

Still, complying with the directions of the police would appear to be the
reasonable choice.

If the police arrest or have to shoot drug dealers in my neighborhood, I'll
be the first in line to thank the police.

Mike Hughes, Shiloh, Ill.

Now is the perfect time for our government to drop the futile "war on
drugs" and to use those essentially wasted funds to engage in a war against
terrorism.

Cathryn Jameton, University City