A police state isn't the answer

Regarding shootings at Northern Illinois University and Virginia Tech, putting aside issues of arming students for self-protection, there is no existing means for preventing death and injury unless credible evidence of imminent danger is brought to authorities before the event ("Views from around the state," April 5). Police arrive after a crime has been committed, not before.

Short of fencing in a campus and having security guards and metal detectors at every gate and every building entrance, a school cannot assure safety. Post-tragedy investigations may help in psychological recovery but do not bring solution. Assigning blame and bringing law suits is dysfunctional and misguided.

We have chosen to live in a free society and must suffer the consequences as well as the benefits. A locked-down police state would be intolerable, and, ultimately, brutal. We are each responsible for our own safety and the safety of others. There can be no spectators.

M. Michael Dorr

Kildeer