Letters to the Editors

Police must be held accountable if they abuse their power

Re: Report: Officers' response justified, story, Oct. 23.

For Joe Walden, a small sense of justice was served two months ago when the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office decided not to charge him with resisting arrest. He was lucky that the state went beyond its typical paper investigation, which means they make a decision based on what a police report says. The rest of the community should also be afforded this preliminary review and interviewing of witnesses, which is rarely done for misdemeanor cases.

Not surprising to me is that the "internal affairs investigation" by the Clearwater Police Department resulted in four police officers being cleared of accusations of using excessive force in the June arrest of Walden.

Walden was fortunate to have witnesses, then extra fortunate to have credible witnesses of a caliber that our society regards as being responsible and honorable. The Times article dated Aug. 11 states, "Walden denies he lunged at anyone and is joined by two witnesses -- including his boxing coach and Safety Harbor City Commissioner Robin Borland. The witnesses say police used excessive force when they knocked Walden to the ground, handcuffed him and eventually took him to jail."

Makes one wonder how the officers were cleared of using excessive force when two credible witnesses state the contrary.

It's the good ole boys. What is needed is an outside, independent investigation of these allegations. An internal investigation is often just a coverup whereby complainants encounter the brick-wall, deaf-ear syndrome when communicating with internal affairs staff.

My own personal experience with law enforcement regarding my teen son, as well as many devastating stories I hear from others, has enlightened me to the fact that there are many dishonorable people who wear a badge and carry a gun. Too many abuse the power bestowed upon them. They must be held accountable!
-- Cathy Corry, Clearwater

Give voters new issues that matter

Re: Oldsmar voters need to do the right thing again, editorial, Oct. 30.

Why do the Oldsmar citizens have to continue to pay for these lynch-mob elections? It would be nice to vote on positive issues or plans for improvement instead of defending what the citizens have already voted on. Does part of the City Council think that maybe some voters just won't be paying attention this time?

Perhaps our city charter should be amended to vote out the councils in one single election. Then maybe the citizens can rest assured that our city won't be portrayed negatively in the newspaper due to tempers, unprofessionalism and sheer disregard and disrespect to citizens and other council members.
-- Vicki Anderson, Oldsmar

Who let the fizz out of jazz festival?

What has happened to the Clearwater Jazz Holiday? We haven't missed one in the 23 years we've lived here. No picnics, no sharing food with others, no camaraderie, no class, no fun -- just rows of empty seats where we once sat with blankets and felt a part of the performances.

Somebody's fiefdom has fallen flat on its face.
-- Faith and Dave Barnard, Dunedin

We'll stay home rather than go to AMC

This week my husband and I went to the Oldsmar Woodlands 20 Theater to a twilight movie, which cost $12. We saw a movie that had six stars in the Critic's Call box of your weekend section. If we hadn't committed $12, we would have left after 30 minutes; in our opinion the movie was at best a C-. The other 15 or so patrons seemed to share our dissatisfaction with the movie.

The large popcorn used to have a free refill, which the AMC chain no longer provides. We thought perhaps if management lowered the air conditioning they might save some money and pass the savings on to the twilight patrons. And we're hoping they use the money they get from the increase in fees to repair the damage mark on the center of the screen.

The sad part is, all the letters we write regarding these increases fall on deaf ears. We all make choices. Our choice will be to stay home and rent movies, make our own popcorn and sit in our own home, where we have control of the air conditioning!
-- Linda Gorken, Palm Harbor

Your voice counts

We invite readers to write letters for publication. Address them to Letters to the Editor, the Times, 710 Court St., Clearwater, FL 33756. Or you may fax them to (727) 445-4119, or e-mail to npletters@sptimes.com . E-mail letters must be text only and cannot include attachments.

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Letters may be edited for clarity, taste and length. We regret that not all letters can be printed.
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