POLICE SHOULD NOT TRY TO INFLUENCE THE LAW

A Feb. 15 Maui News article said that the police were passing out
pamphlets opposing marijuana-related legislation.

I think that it is inappropriate for on-duty public servants to try
to influence legislation. Policemen certainly have the right to voice
their individual opinions on their own time, when not in uniform. But
telling people how to vote on the public nickel is not what they are
being paid for.

The article said that the pamphlets were paid for by a grant. Who
provided the grant? Giving money to the police for the purpose of
influencing legislation seems dangerously close to bribery.

The police are paid to enforce the laws, not to make them. I'm afraid
that the chief of police has overstepped the bounds of his job in this case.

Mitch Bradley

Makawao