DH off base about police culture

It was in complete disbelief that I read in the Nov. 27 "Our View" opinion page "The uncomfortable reality of Laquan McDonald's death." The DH editorial staff was way off the mark and have waded into dangerous waters.

To talk about suburban perspective of police being respectful if not admiring, then to use the terrible incident in Chicago to put the suburbanites comfortable, "preconceived" mindset on notice that it needs to be "boggled" because of it is far reaching and ridiculous.

The DH editorial staff is fanning the flames of untrue rhetoric, and that is unprofessional and not to your standards. The individual acts of this officer, and the actions of the individual officers "in Ferguson - and in all the other cases that have called attention to themselves" are just that - individual actions of individual officers.

It's false conjecture that these individual incidents are systemic and part of a larger police culture problem, and you are completely discounting the literally countless positive, constructive, peaceful and helpful interactions that occur between the police and the residents they serve in all communities daily.

You are also discounting the roles the suspects themselves play in each of these events. It's a simple formula, break the law and surrender peacefully and nobody gets hurt. Resist, fight, flee, carry or use weapons, disobey commands, and the outcome can rapidly escalate and quickly become unpredictable with sometimes but extremely rarely tragic conclusions. Nothing else needs to be factored into this formula, particularly a false narrative of a negative law enforcement culture.

I am in no way condoning the actions of this CPD officer, I am just refusing to accept the notion you are floating that somehow this officer is representative of all officers and the overall culture of policing.

Tim Garlisch

Naperville