Letters To The Editor

DISTURBING THE PEACE

Drunks caused trouble, were stopped

Regarding stories about the so-called riot Friday night, here’s how a car cruise participant viewed the problem: It was a ruckus, not a riot!

My husband, myself and our daughter have been going to this function yearly. We have always been in the cruise. Drivers who enter the cruise receive a printout explaining the rules. Those include no peeling out, or you are out and could receive a ticket. The motorcyclist wasn’t the only one getting a ticket.

Police gave the crowd an hour to disperse. The drunks chose not to. All the cruisers are very responsible people. Drunks outside of the Iron Horse created the problem - after the cruise had been over for an hour. About 10 p.m., we decided to leave the cruise because of those people. The owner stated he wasn’t responsible for people on the sidewalk.

This problem isn’t restricted to just this past weekend. It is a problem throughout summer. We go to Coeur d’Alene every weekend during the summer and the drunks are always out in front of the Iron Horse.

My family appreciates the Coeur d’Alene police. Coeur d’Alene is a place where we can go and not worry about walking downtown. During the Fourth of July, we feel safe because the police will not put up with any sort of troublemakers. They warn people, “You misbehave, you get arrested.”

I thank the city of Coeur d’Alene! Sheri L. Young Spokane

High time `jerks’ were dealt with

I’m a bit amused at the use of the “2,000-person” statistic. The so-called riot in Coeur d’Alene was not 2,000 strong. The Car Show was. Disturbance would be a better description.

Police here may have been a little overzealous but the crowd that instigated the problem deserved no less than it received. I am so sick of trying to enjoy the city streets on any given night, just to be harassed by drunks, obnoxious kids, religious fanatics bent on converting us and music booming from cars cruising the main drag so loudly you cannot think! Most of the time, police are not around to see and handle the intimidating behavior of these jerks. It’s about time they took some control. Maybe now we can walk the streets a little more relaxed. Dawn Wiksten Coeur d’Alene

`Los Angeles rookie cops’ at fault

Coeur d’Alene’s finest, its police, are all a bunch of Los Angeles rookie cops with attitudes from the big city, who think we are all a bunch of hicks in Idaho that they need to baby-sit.

They should take their attitudes and badges back to California where they came from and leave us alone!

I was in Los Angeles when the Rodney King riots happened. They handled the “Riot in CdA” the same way. This isn’t LA - not yet, anyway. thank God!

I spent nearly 21 years in the U.S. Navy and saw a lot of places, but I came home to Coeur d’Alene, where I was born in 1957, and raised.

I have two bumperstickers on my pickup. One says, “You’re in Idaho now, calm down.” The other says, “Now you’ve seen Idaho, get the hell out!”

I don’t know which one, if either, I should take off. Kim C. Fleming Coeur d’Alene

Response to disturbance a good one

The action of the on-scene peace officers issuing a citation to an individual who hazarded both himself and spectators, and request for backup was, and is, the reaction of responsible officers. The immediate deployment of trained, well-equipped, “riot police” certainly was appropriate and necessary. It reflects prior planning, training, and effective communications.

Media response, or lack of response, to a breaking story appears to have been intentional editorial reluctance to inflame public opinion.

Merchants who permitted their customers to consume beer on the sidewalk should be cautioned that they should have suspended beer sales when the crowd began to assemble.

In retrospect, I commend the county sheriff for not backing up the deployed personnel with local fire squads. Injuries from fire hoses would have been widespread and proved to be unnecessary. Volunteer fire chiefs haven’t been trained to restrain or control their personnel - even high velocity fog or foam should only be used as a weapon of last resort. L.R. Broun Coolin

Move all events to old dump site

Maybe they should move the Car d’Lane event to the site of the old city dump also. It appears to have caused way more problems than the Aryan Nations march did.

Fair is fair, eh? After all, Coeur d’Alene is fighting the image of being narrow-minded and racist. We want to be seen as progressive and fair to all, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. In that light, maybe we should move all parades to the old dump. Then, traffic would not be disturbed, the business owners would not have to put up with crowds, parking would not be a problem and everything would be perfect. Whatcha think? Nancy J. Ward Bayview

Officials should consider crackdown

The recent disturbance in downtown Coeur d’ Alene is one more symptom of a good town gone bad. In the past two years, Coeur d’Alene has been negatively featured in the national media several times, lost a good deal of our downtown merchants and turned over our streets to gangs of disaffected youths.

Frankly, I am surprised it took this long for a major disturbance to occur. Maintaining our current course will guarantee more of the same in the future.

It’s time for our elected officials to make some courageous decisions. They should consider revoking their ill-advised ordinance that allows drinking alcohol on the streets, implementing a curfew (most arrested in Saturday’s riot were under 20), and passing a no-loitering law. As a father of two young children, I can’t take my family downtown on a summer’s eve due to the unruly crowds of young people who have taken over our city streets. I can only imagine how visitors and tourists feel. Is it any wonder that a record number of downtown merchants have called it quits?

We are fortunate to live in one of the most beautiful communities in the country. It is a shame to waste all that we have due to poor planning and mismanagement. Gary Paquin Coeur d’Alene

Police overreaction must end

Riot police at the Car d’Lane? People on the ground being hit with batons? Tear gas and rubber bullets fired on Sherman Avenue? Preposterous. Outrageous.

Citizens being handcuffed and jailed without being charged? Without being read their Miranda rights? Arrogant. Troubling.

Last summer, while hatemongers exercised their constitutional rights on Sherman, those who came to exercise those same rights by protesting the Aryans’ march were harassed and jailed. And now this.

Capt. Carl Bergh characterized Friday’s events as a “disturbance.” Why then were 115 officers from six jurisdictions mobilized to flex their new citizen-control toys? Bergh says there was no property damage but what is the damage to taxpayers to bankroll this little operation? I sincerely hope no police apologists suggest the reason there was no property damage was because of the fine job the riot police did in enforcing a ticket for burning rubber at a car rally.

What’s going on here? I refuse to impugn the good intentions of the individuals who serve in Coeur d’Alene’s police but someone is on a serious power trip. The pattern of arrogance and high-handedness is plain to see.

Who is setting the policies that result in people’s civil rights being violated whenever the police feel like showing who’s boss? What must the rest of the country think when every time our city makes the national news it is in part because of police overreaction? How many more black eyes will Coeur d’Alene take before Mayor Steve Judy admits there is a problem? Charles Kenna Post Falls

No police overreaction here

I suppose some people might consider the Coeur d’Alene situation a police overreaction, unless you happened to be standing by the motorcycle that peeled out on the sidewalk.

Of course, if you happened to be anywhere close to one of the officers when bottles started flying in their direction, you might appreciate their quick response. People were warned to disperse and the police did back off to allow this to happen. Obviously, some people made a conscious choice to remain where they were. I have not heard, or seen anything that would lead me to believe the force was excessive.

For anyone who has ever tried to deal with a drunk, you know there are times when nothing short of a solid, blunt object would convince them to behave. I haven’t heard of any clubbings.

Considering the odds, 2,000 to 115, and the fact that these types of situations always seem to escalate, I think the police did the only thing they could to ensure as little damage as possible to businesses and people.

I don’t believe all cops are good guys just because they wear a uniform but in this instance, we need to admit that they did their job and leave it at that. Rose Mills Osburn

Don’t blame police for doing their job

My wife and I attended the Friday night Car d’Lane car cruise. Afterward, we saw numerous young people who were obviously drinking heavily, egging on other youths to do burnouts and other hot-dogging in the street - a dangerous combination.

We continued on to a restaurant for dinner. When we heard numerous sirens, my first thought was that a vehicle had gone out of control and struck people. As we walked returned to our our car, we saw what was happening. Lots of intoxicated young people were out of control. Law enforcement officers from numerous jurisdictions were trying to disperse them. These officers were exemplary in their demeanor and remarkably restrained, considering they were facing a large, hostile crowd refusing to disperse.

As for the typical Monday morning quarterbacking, this was a no-win situation for police. If they didn’t intervene and someone was hurt or killed by a reckless driver, or property was damaged, somebody would’ve criticized them for not acting to safeguard lives and property. Now, someone says they overreacted.

Let’s put the responsibility where it belongs - on those who made the situation to get out of hand and who violated the law. The police did an outstanding job and deserve our full support. Tad Leach Coeur d’Alene

Take steps to avert trouble

Re: “Police defend actions at riot,” (June 20). I was not there but I’ve attended previous car cruises, enjoyed them and thought of them as family affairs. I was totally surprised at something like this happening.

I carefully read the newspaper reports. It sounds like the police gave ample time for the crowds to back off and disperse before cracking down - after having bottles and insults hurled at them for an hour.

In the future, let’s have family style parades and such end at 9 p.m. or so, before dark and before people get drunk. I’d rather see this than have to look at drinking limits or bar closings as options. Maybe bars do need to have bouncers to spot drinkers getting too drunk or rowdy earlier and escort them quietly out the back door, before they can inflame the folks around them (sounds like that happened in this case).

The police were put in a difficult situation and I support them. A civilized society cannot be terrorized by a loud, out-of-control minority. Nancy Mertz Coeur d’Alene

Police should count to 10 more

The lateness of the Coeur d’Alene “riot” kept us from being in the middle of it. We left the area about 8:30 p.m. From personal experience in other states, I find that when you get more than one police officer in one place at one time, there seems to be the same mob mentality the media places on ethnic groups such as African Americans. They seem to take things more personally and overreact. Screeching motorcycle tires is not an actionable offense. It appears most of what occurred was the fault of overzealous officers.

Additional troops were brought in to quell something that probably was nothing. I’m surprised with all the officers in the area that they didn’t declare martial law and close down Coeur d’Alene.

I saw that in Las Vegas during the Rodney King trial. All of North Las Vegas, where most African Americans live, was locked down with serious firepower.

Local cops should take a lesson from mothers everywhere. Count to 10, then count to 10 again when there is no imminent danger to anyone. See if anything else escalates from the original cause for concern. If everything calms down, let it be. Dianne Hammond Coeur d’Alene

OFF THE NET

Editor’s note: People from around the country have been following last weekend’s disturbance in Coeur d’Alene. Some of the visitors to The Spokesman-Review’s Web site, spokane.net, have commented on the situation. Here are some comments we received by e-mail.

Walk a mile in officer’s shoes

All of you critics ought to try the odds sometime. Try being outnumbered 10 or 20 to 1. Then play Monday morning quarterback. … You shouldn’t be so fast to criticize law enforcement until you had a few bricks and bottles flung at you, while you are supposed to remain calm, courageous and professional! Dan LaRoche East Wenatchee, Wash.

Police ask for their image problem

If the police would return to their time-honored role of officer of the peace on a walking beat, instead of statutory law enforcement full-rigged in SWAT gear, we would see a lot less of this kind of behavior and adverse reaction on both sides. With the return to officer of the peace, the police would again earn and regain the respect and cooperation of the citizens, instead of the disgust, distrust, frustration, fear and hate they now encounter. Bob Hardison Post Falls

Police should’ve joined the fun

The annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D., is an event that generates millions of dollars for that city’s businesses. Peeling rubber is a crime? It’s a hot rod event! Perhaps a few cops ough to get a hot rod and join the fun, instead of beating on the citizens.

Whoever gave the order at the police department should be fired. Shooting at citizens is a felony that should be prosecuted. This is America, not Israel or South Africa. Monte Burgher Anchorage, Alaska

Officers did their job well

Thank you, Couer d’Alene police officers and Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies, for your diligence and hard work keeping the riot under control.

I don’t care what anyone says. Good job, you deserve it. Timothy Martin Sitka, Alaska.

Police should’ve `mellowed out’

I was not at the riot but was listening to it on the police scanner. To me, it sounded as if the police did overreact. It sounded as if there were one or two police officers who were trying a power play.

If they would have mellowed out and let the people enjoy the night, the riot probably never would have happened. Judy Capparelli Hayden Lake