PARRAMORE REALITY

As a Parramore area landlord who spends a large portion of his time
attempting to increase police presence and law enforcement in
Parramore, I must respond to suggestions that the Orlando Police
Department's Taser use is somehow racist.

To believe this, one must believe that Deputy Chief Val Demings, the
wife of Orlando's first black chief of police, is a racist. One must
also note that those who are quoted in Monday's article making
negative comments about the police in Parramore do not live in
Parramore and may benefit (increasing their power and/or income) by
claiming that OPD officers are racist, unfair or punitive.

All of the many law-abiding Parramore residents I know feel the same
way as the 62-year-old retired resident you quoted saying, "If it
weren't for the law, you couldn't walk down these streets."

In 1990, as chair of one of Orlando's first revitalize-Parramore
committees, OPD furnished me statistics showing that the Parramore
area generated 49 percent of drug-related charges. I note your
article reports that it is now down to 39 percent.

The citizens of Orlando need to know that the Parramore area contains
only about 1 percent of Orlando's land area and population. Serious
crime occurring in Parramore is so rampant that it is often no longer news.

In order to protect the citizens of Parramore, College Park, Eola
Park, the balance of the city and our downtown, we must finally get
control of Parramore. This will lead to more police activity and
therefore more tasing of individuals with no respect for our laws or
our society.

Phil Cowherd

Winter Park