Media promote lack of respect for police

I was thoroughly aggravated after reading "The tragic death of Sandra Bland" in the Opinion section of the Sunday, July 26, Herald.

While I agree that her death is tragic and that we know nothing about what happened inside the jail cell, Ms. Bland is responsible for the fact that she ended up in jail in the first place.

It is clear from the patrol-car video that she did not honor the policeman's request (not directive as you state) to put out her cigarette and instead chose to escalate the situation by mouthing off. If she had simply put out her cigarette and kept her mouth shut, she would have gone home instead of to jail and would likely still be alive today.

It seems that the response of the media whenever there is an incident involving a white policeman and a minority "victim" is to automatically blame the police for anything bad that happens, regardless of the facts. The media would better serve the public interest by using these incidents (Ferguson, Missouri, also comes to mind) to reinforce what our parents told us when we were growing up. To wit: When you are being questioned or apprehended by the police, do what you are told and keep your mouth shut except to answer the policeman's questions.

George Barney

Mundelein