OREGON SHOOTING WAS A TRAVESTY

In his Oct. 28 Viewpoints letter, "Grand jury used the facts," the Houston
Police Officers' Union president, Hans Marticiuc, accuses the public of not
using their heads. His boys storm Pedro Oregon Navarro's home, clearly
ready to shoot the man because of some rumored activity told to them by an
informant, and Marticiuc is worried about others being carried away by
their emotions.

Officer Marticiuc stands for a principle which is becoming absolute in law
enforcement: never admit you were wrong.

The macho code of refusal to back down, even from the most hideous
miscalculation infects everyone from the U.S. attorney general on down, and
is the consequence of decades of propaganda defining police work as a war
against internal enemies.

In a free society, law enforcement is not war. Its purpose is the
protection of the citizen, not the conquest of the population.

The aim should be wherever possible to reduce violence, not automatically
to exercise overwhelming force. Where the lines are so sharply drawn, it is
little wonder courageous juries are hard to find willing to find for the
"other side."

In any case, condemning the officers involved misses the point. Some may be
thugs attracted by the seek-and-destroy mindset of the war on drugs and
some may be brave men thrown into a desperate situation made worse by bad
policy, but atrocities like this will be inevitable until voters ask
politicians to defend their rights rather than posing in front of slamming
prison doors.

James M. Grace, Houston
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The Oct. 28 letter, "Grand jury used the facts" by Hans Marticiuc, brings
out some questions regarding the police shooting of Pedro Oregon Navarro:
Did the police have a search warrant? Did the police wait for Oregon to
answer the door?

If not, it appears they found him guilty without due process. The really
sad thing is, they can't correct their mistake.

Noble Shaw, Nacogdoches
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Hans Marticiuc's Viewpoints letter Oct. 28 made me sick to my stomach. I
just wonder about the facts presented to the grand jury. Were they skewed
in the officers' favor? Did they smash his door in or just ring the doorbell?

There was a shooting and Pedro Oregon's short life was ended by the thugs
who refuse to take responsibility for their actions. As a result, they are
suspended with pay -- an unadulterated travesty of justice.

August Farfalla, Sugar Land

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski