'NOTHING RACIAL ABOUT IT'

The Jan. 5 story about Michael Newby being shot in a "drug bust gone awry"
is a tragedy for the suspect's family. Let us not add to it and make it a
burden on our police department or the officer involved.

This suspect scuffled with police and was conducting a drug deal. There is
nothing racial about it. The suspect should not have run and tried to take
the gun from the officer.

Ninety percent of us believe in our police force, and it would seem The
Courier-Journal only listens to the 10 percent of the population who have
nothing better to do than find problems with the police department, when
they should asking why drug deals are taking place in our community.

This is all in line with the much publicized by The C-J shooting of James
Taylor by Louisville police. Why did The C-J and local media give any
credibility to that story? I assure you if I am handcuffed, I will not try
to escape or come at a police officer with a box cutter. The police should
shoot me if I do.

The answer is clear: If the police point a gun at you and say "freeze," you
should not move. Do not try to run or take their gun away; you may be shot
if you do. Race has nothing to do with it. If you are engaged in illegal
activity, it is your own fault if, as you are being apprehended, you choose
to fight or run away.

Police brutality and abuse do exist, and we cannot tolerate it. But in no
way do they exist in the Taylor and Newby situations.

MICHAEL F. ROSS

Louisville 40241