Letters To The Editor

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Mangan response was appropriate

Has Police Chief Terry Mangan acted appropriately? That seems to be the question the media want us to get all worked up about. In reality, most people are in no position to answer that question.

Few people have walked in the shoes of a law enforcement officer, fewer yet in a top law enforcement official’s shoes. Officers face threats and danger on a daily basis. They are trained to observe and respond to threatening and potentially dangerous situations. Few situations they face are actually life threatening, but they can never let their guard down and take that chance - that’s how officers get killed.

Apparently, Mangan saw what to his trained eye was a potentially threatening situation and confronted the men armed and with an attitude. That attitude is what keeps officers alive.

If these people had been a real threat and had criminal intent, do you think they would have responded to “How are you this fine evening?” If they had been criminals, Mangan used the only approach that element understands, one of seriousness and dominance.

As it turned out, the suspicious vehicle was part of an innocent game of CB radio cat and mouse. Those in it were guilty only of being bored and immature. They bear at least some of the responsibility as they placed themselves in what appeared to a highly trained police officer to be a potentially dangerous situation.

Did Mangan act appropriately? Yes, I think he did. He deserves our full support. Ken Kelso LaCrosse, Wash.

‘Loose cannon’ in the Valley

I think Police Chief Terry Mangan should stop watching so many old “Starsky and Hutch” reruns. Intimidation with a weapon is a felony or at least a gross misdemeanor. Never fear, though, the good old boy network will take care of its own.

If he had perceived a threat, he should have called 911. Our sheriff’s department has always been very efficient.

If he wants to be Rambo he should enlist. Otherwise, he should stop the tirades and intimidation of citizens in the Valley.

Beware, Valley folks, we have a loose cannon out here. It has a badge, a gun and is called “chief.” R.G. Rodner Spokane

Must we brace for more liability?

Is the City of Spokane going to have to pay for the lawsuit if the chief of police is found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon? Oh, I forgot; he is “not an ordinary citizen.” Linda Lynch Spokane

Chief should take polygraph test

I’m very concerned about Police Chief Terry Mangan’s latest incident of overreacting.

I know what a fine line law enforcement officials walk in trying to preserve the law, but the chief, of all people, is supposed to be a shining example of what every officer should be. I doubt that the chief would have tolerated abusive language, excessive force or handing over a service weapon to an unqualified citizen by any one of the officers in his command. Why then does he think he can do these things and feel he is justified? It’s time for Spokane citizens to take a good look at the example the chief is setting for the Spokane Police Department.

Mangan should have immediately put himself on administrative leave until the investigation could prove he’s telling the truth about what happened.

I’m not sure the chief was telling the truth about holding the shotgun down to his side when confronting the three men. The vehicle occupants said he held it in their faces and even hit one of them with it. They are willing to take a lie detector test.

Mangan should do the same. If the results show he is lying, let’s get rid of him before someone is killed or the city has a huge bill to pay because of his misconduct.

Shouldn’t this internal investigation be conducted by another agency, such as the Washington State Patrol or a more impartial agency? Kaye Morehouse Spokane

Review performance, risk

Police Terry Chief Mangan’s actions as reported in the March 12 Spokesman-Review are, to say the least, disturbing. As chief he is supposed to set an example not only for those who serve under him but for the citizens of Spokane.

His story is very different from that of the men he confronted. If anyone has reason to defend or excuse his actions, it was the chief, not Bill Nelson and Bruce Rakowski, who were not violating any law.

If the chief is sued, is the city of Spokane liable for his defense in the violation of some persons’ civil rights? If a patrolman or ordinary citizen had done the same thing would they be treated lightly?

It appears the chief went off half-cocked. Thank the good Lord the gun wasn’t cocked. At least, that is what the chief reports.

Perhaps it is a good time to review the chief’s performance and weigh the potential for liability from his hasty, poorly thought out actions. Richard B. “Dick” Hopp Spokane

On the road again - please

Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that I read an article in your paper about how the chief of police is never around? Maybe he should stay gone! Connie Knapper Spokane

Reaction justified, understandable

I have to back Chief Terry Mangan. I wish I had him in my neighborhood during the summer, when foot traffic and vandalism increase.

I hope most people will understand why the chief or any law enforcement personnel would take such action when someone is driving around their neighborhood. Whether he pointed the shotgun or not, I think he was justified as he is a trained officer.

Maybe the bunny hunters should coordinate with the neighborhoods prior to conducting such an activity. Dwight Bailey Spokane

Mangan did what I would do

I am no big fan of police officers but I am a very big fan of protecting my family and my property.

If one or more individuals pulled up in their truck in the front of my property at night, especially if I lived in a deserted or rural area, as Chief Terry Mangan reportedly does, I would go out and investigate. I would also go out armed.

It upsets me that people are picking on him because he is the chief of police. Any individual in the same situation might or might not have reacted the same way, but I guarantee I would have gone out there, armed, to check it out.

It scares me to death that people would dare condemn the chief, or anyone, for trying to protect their family and property. I’m sorry they are giving Mangan this grief. I support him. Mark Godbey Electric City, Wash.

Sic ATF on street gangs

Re: the March 6 article about the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and its future:

The solution seems so simple. I find it hard to believe that newspaper editors and bureaucrats in Spokane and around the country can’t see it.

The ATF is trained, armed to the teeth and has shown its willingness to attack U.S. citizens with little or no provocation, i.e. Ruby Ridge and Waco.

This is a no-brainer. ATF should be changed to DGF Drugs, Gangs and Firearms - and should be given the sole task of completely ridding the United States of gangs and gang-related activities.

This scourge is ruining the lives of many Americans. How many people have to die before the government gets serious about these maggots?

In most cities people are afraid to go outside because of teenage gangs. Our “sleepy” town of Spokane is getting that way, too.

Police departments should not be expected to control gangs as they are not equipped to do so. The ATF, on the other hand, has highly trained, properly equipped agents champing at the bit to put their training and high-powered weapons to the test.

Who better to fight against than the well-armed gangs?

I sense a lack of action because the civil rights of gang members might be violated. But one must remember, every time one of these punks sets foot outside his house he violates the rights of every honest citizen in the community. Richard K. Brauner Spokane

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Popular wisdom due for revision

The Washington Post recently asked: What if assertions the country has taken a decisive political turn are wrong?

Clinton’s administration is proving more popular than assumed and the GOP is abandoning its destruction of Medicare, Social Security, the environment and demands for tax cuts for the rich.

The present view is that voters are not looking to tear down the government but merely looking for ways to make it work and to improve average living standards.

Perhaps Democrats were not rejected in 1994 for what they did but instead for what they failed to do in health care, political and welfare reforms, job training, education and a better economy.

It stated: It appears most Americans are yearning less for the politics of a William McKinley or a Calvin Coolidge and more for a revival of the traditions of Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Harry Truman.

Clinton’s State of The Union message and subsequent talks are blending values, economics and actions more attuned to current public needs and desires.

People listen to high-blown rhetoric only for so long. When action fails to match the rhetoric, they want to go back to when it did - the days of Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, etc., who provided Social Security, Medicare, educational access, environmental controls, a minimum wage, 40-hour week and economic stabilization - not the rhetoric without substance of the Contract with America. Andy Kelly Spokane

Pick leaders through a lottery

There is a circus going on in our nation’s capital and it demonstrates that, no matter their political affiliation, politicians have no clue as to the meaning of the word “governance.”

It’s like watching a comedy, “Stooges Meet the Keystone Cops.” The politicians try to win for their side and do not give much thought to what is really best for this country.

The inside and outside debates over the balanced budget in seven versus 10 years sounds like drying out a drunk by tapering him off on Ripple wine. The only way to balance the budget is to balance it.

What is needed is to pay off the national debt the politicians created. Just think of the things that could be accomplished with the $300 billion currently paid annually in interest.

I’m led to believe we need a constitutional amendment that outlaws political parties. Politicians could be chosen by a lottery from a pool of all registered voters who would serve one term. There is no way that random selection from the common citizenry could or would produce a group any worse than those currently serving.

Every time politicians mention budget cutting they end up giving more away, costing us more. It seems they can’t learn that if one spends his income on presents for friends’ riotous living and must borrow to pay interest on the outstanding loan, they’re in deep trouble. C.B. Marcinkowski Post Falls

Think of him as Boo, Cannon

Wasn’t it after World War II we were trying to find peace in this world?

In the March 4 issue of U.S. News & World Report, Pat Buchanan is quoted as saying, “Everything is a war - cold war, hot war or cultural war.”

Is this true? Is everything we do a war? I don’t think so. I feel that we haven’t done terribly badly the last 19 years or so. Putting Buchanan in the lead is not for the best. Someone who believes in guns and who believes in war should not be our leader. We need someone who will support us and our country. Not everything has to be dealt with by death or violence. Emily White Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

Honor designated drivers, too

St. Patrick’s Day provides everyone an opportunity to celebrate our nation’s rich heritage. As many of us here in Spokane toast St. Patrick on March 17, we should take a moment to consider the contributions of those who volunteer to be designated drivers.

Why? Because designated drivers help do what even the luck of the Irish cannot: stop drunk driving.

According to a 1995 Roper Poll, 73 million American adults have been a designated driver or have been driven home by one, and 90 percent of Americans endorse the designated-driver concept as an excellent or good way of curbing drunk driving.

In fact, designated drivers have contributed to a 37 percent decline in drunk-driving deaths from 1982 to 1994.

This St. Patrick’s Day, B&B Distributors, Inc., along with several of the most popular St. Patrick’s Day gathering places in Spokane, will be working to continue that progress by reminding customers to use a designated driver.

As the Irish and would-be Irish congregate around town this St. Patrick’s Day, let’s all remember that having a good time means looking out for ourselves and others. Theodore P. Rusnak, president B&B Distributors, Inc., Spokane

Korean veterans deserve better

In your “A decade that was alive with change” (Opinion, March 8), the total lack of mention of the Korean conflict emphasizes the label of “forgotten war.” In the short span of 1950-52, the Korean war took nearly as many American lives as the protracted Vietnam effort.

Thousands of Inland Northwest families were affected with the call-up of the Air National Guard, including Spokane’s 60th Wing at Geiger Field.

Korea’s one major impact was to freeze all applications for commercial television. In Washington state, only one station was on the air (in Seattle) until the war was over and the freeze lifted in 1952.

There was no nightly television coverage of the no-win war that, thanks to a miscalculation about the entry of the Chinese, came perilously close to a disastrous defeat.

Those of us who served in Korea came home, quietly returned to our jobs and put our lives back together. Seems a shame that the thousands who did not return have been so ignored by history. J. Birney Blair Spokane

Bible holds abortion answer

To offer balance concerning the alleged “silence of the scriptures” on the abortion issue, folks like Jack DeBaun (Letters, Feb.9) should consider: Psalms 139: 13-16, 119:73, Isaiah 44:24, Job 10:8-11.

Herein is the point: Does man have the moral authority to destroy what God has created? If we are going to hold the rest of nature/creation sacrosanct, is human life any less so? Bruce Thompson Post Falls

Error sign of leftist-pacifist cabal

Had those great old ships of yore, the U.S.S. Iowa and U.S.S. Missouri (the “Mighty Moe”), been recommissioned to level their intimidating 16-inch guns on distant shores?

I read the story and discovered that no, battle ships - two words there - had been deployed.

I suppose this is what happens when newspapers fall into the clutches of the left-wing, peacemongering, liberal media cabal of journalists who cannot tell a Frigate from a Corvette, a battleship group from a Carrier group or a warship from a merchant ship.

Please send whoever composed that headline to tend the goat, and stand corrected: Warships were put on patrol near Taiwan. Duncan Palmatier Moscow