February 9, 2012 in Opinion, Letters

It’s not the uniform

 

Though I appreciate Councilman Mike Fagan’s outside-the-box thinking, I don’t think new police uniforms are going to do anything to build public trust in our Police Department. It kind of goes back to the “you can put lipstick on a mule, but it’s still a mule” concept. Yes, I’m trying to be nice.

Some companies change their name and fool the people into thinking it’s a new business. A good example is AIG. The company took billions in taxpayer bailout money, gave its people bonuses and planned a big party. When executives realized the huge public relations disaster that resulted, they changed the name of its auto insurance arm from AIG Direct to 21st Century Insurance.

New uniforms are similar. It’s an attempt to change an image and increase public trust. However, the real problem with our Police Department is the outrageously powerful Police Guild and its prejudicial favoritism for its officers. Until the guild is demoted in power and the police have civilian oversight, our SPD will never change.

The problem isn’t the uniform; it’s who wears the uniform.

David Bray

Spokane

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  • mary1958 on February 10 at 10:03 p.m.

    So I guess it isn’t the gun, taser, baton…..its the uniform. Well you could have them in a Bozo the clown suit but if they overuse their weapons everyone including little kids will eventually associate the new uniform with violence. I think they should take the tasers away. Nothing will change if those that act badly in the execution of their police job get away with it.

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