WITH METH COOKING LABS, IT'S BETTER POLICE ERR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION

As I read Dan Clark's letter July 29, the first thing I thought was
that this guy has no idea how dangerous these meth cooking labs are,
or doesn't care. He said the search was done by a "Gestapo squad."

I live in Missouri most of the year, but have a place in Breckenridge
where I live for a few months each winter.

My brother's a cop who arrests these people and shuts down these
labs.

I've seen what meth does. Missouri is second only to California in
meth cooking. These "labs" explode in Missouri about one time in six,
so about 17 percent of them will explode.

Usually, the person cooking the meth is killed, or badly burned. If
this person lives in his or her own house, then you could say they got
what they deserved.

But when this might be happening in a condo or apartment, as was the
case here, and other residents could be at risk of injury or death, or
it is known that children live in the residence, the police have to
err on the side of caution, even if it means a mistake might be made.

A search warrant was signed by a judge who read what evidence the
police had. He or she agreed the evidence supported issuing the
warrant and signed it. This was no "Gestapo squad." The law was
followed to the letter.

Unfortunately, sometimes mistakes are made. But this mistake resulted
in some property damage. This can and will be repaired.

I'd much rather read this than read that the police had information
about this lab but ignored it, and innocent people died, including
possibly the children of those breaking the law, because they were
afraid of being called a "Gestapo squad."

It's called common sense.

Rob Cooper

Breckenridge/Springfield, Mo.