No wonder

Much has been said about the behavior of police officers across America. Defenders point to the difficulty of their jobs and their role in preserving public safety. Critics call into question the many many people, particularly people of color, killed or injured by questionable acts of aggression and violence.

Take the recent case of Officer Michael Brunner, who despite seriously injuring innocent bystanders in a gratuitous and immature use of a police car is now to receive back pay of $56,000 and his job back. Let’s see — he’s tailgating a woman on her way to work at Deaconess Hospital while computer chatting with a crony about how “she sucks” when he speeds around her and collides with another car, causing a broken collarbone and ribs, a bleeding retina and a head injury so severe it needed staples to repair it.

Here’s how the police department responded: They characterized the incident as Brunner being unable to bring his vehicle to a stop and ticketed the injured driver for “failure to yield” as if Brunner was doing his duty as a policeman by hitting them. This is outrageous behavior by Brunner, his crony and the rest of the police department, not to mention the judicial system.

And people (primarily white people) wonder about the lack of trust and fear others legitimately have in Spokane police.

Linda Stone

Spokane