Letter of the day:

A DANGEROUS PATH

I believe that Clarence Davis in his March 7 letter is mistaken when
he states that the majority of Winnipeggers "don't care how the
police do (things)." He is probably correct in that the majority of
people want drug dealers off the street. (I would like to see his
statistics, though, if he is going to generalize to that extent.)

However, when we begin to give our police carte blanche to simply act
without any regard for the rules of law that we as a society have
chosen for particular reasons, we are treading down a dangerous path.
Ask the people in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia or any other country where
the police had authority to do whatever they want how this worked for them.

The point surrounding this case is that if the officers were willing
to go to unethical or downright illegal means to secure their arrest,
what is to stop them from doing so in the future? I appreciate that
Davis wants to feel safe on the streets and in his home. I, however,
would feel less safe if the police had the authority to come in to my
house, apartment or hotel room and do whatever they want to put me in jail.

MATTHEW LINDQUIST

Winnipeg