WHY PUNISH EVERYONE FOR CRIMES OF A FEW?

Honolulu has before it proposed legislation that would close all Oahu parks at
dusk every evening to help police fight the sale and use of illegal drugs.

One of the things that caused the death of Detroit occurred in the 1970s under
Mayor Coleman Young, when he closed all the city's parks at dusk to prevent
people from going there for drugs, instead of simply arresting the culprits.
This irrational type of response to law-breakers fosters "tyranny of the
minority."

The only people who obeyed the new law weren't using the parks to do drugs
anyway. Closing a park didn't stop crime, as the drug users continued to
congregate there. If a law against an illegal drug didn't stop them, a law
closing a park certainly couldn't. If current laws are being broken by park
users, why aren't they arrested?

Why not eliminate all football games at Aloha Stadium and get rid of the 100
muggings, car thefts and pickpocketing crimes committed during each college
game? Eliminate worship service at my church and stop a car theft each Sunday.
Eliminate all our freedoms and crime grinds to a halt. North Korea is the
"safest" country in the world.

Enduring fellow citizens who act in ways not considerate of their neighbors is
the price we must pay for our freedoms. It is the job of law enforcement to
protect us from them. If they can't do the job, get officers who can.

New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani inherited a police force that said it couldn't
stop crime. He gave police offers the option of doing their job or finding
employment elsewhere. Amazingly, crimes of all kinds were dramatically reduced
when jobs were at stake. What a unique idea!

Larry Weis

Aiea