COMMEND?

After reading one person's opinion regarding the sheriff's department's
handling of the shooting of Kenneth B. Walker, we felt the need to respond,
because the facts in this letter have not been publicly stated before.

When you receive skeletal and incomplete information, opinions will often
times vary. How can someone commend a department for the handling of a case
where someone shoots an innocent man and waits four hours before notifying
his family? He had identification on him.

How can you commend a department that didn't have someone at the hospital
to tell family members how a loved one was shot? Only after pleas from the
family did someone come, and he didn't know any details.

How can you commend a department that will not return telephone calls to
the family of a dead man?

How can you commend a department that sends telephone calls from the family
of a dead man to an answering machine after they've identified who they are?

How can you commend a department that won't return personal items of a dead
man because they pretend they don't know where they are?

Being overworked and underpaid is not an excuse for killing an innocent man.

How can anyone say that race did not play a part in the stopping of a Yukon
with four black males? For some reason, this type of thing isn't happening
to others.

Don't commend someone for a job well done when you don't know the facts.

Cheryl, Kayla And Emily Walker

Columbus