Letters to the Editor

Top 10 in infections, but last in leadership

After many years of being chastised for being near or at the bottom of per-pupil spending, Arizona has finally made the Top 10 in a national category. Arizona is now one of the Top 10 states for total COVID cases. This is amazing considering that the other nine states all have much larger populations.

Only stellar leadership could have led Arizona to these levels of success and failure. Top 10 stature! Who would have thought it possible!? Remember you have the upcoming opportunity to access the performance of local, state, and national leadership.

Jay Gandolfi

Northeast side

Statues just another form of free speech

The current campaign to remove statues honoring anyone who ever owned slaves or made racial inappropriate remarks is approaching anarchy. Statues are just another form of free speech which should be protected by the Constitution. Freedom of speech is not the same as freedom from being offended.

In fact, it is just the opposite — if you truly believe in freedom of speech, then you are guaranteed to be offended by something. For me, seeing the American flag burned is offensive, but our courts have determined rightly or wrongly that burning our flag is protected by our Constitution. It is a difficult concept to embrace, but it is necessary in order to live in this republic.

We collectively need to grow a thicker skin and learn to say no when someone makes unreasonable demands. If we had elected leaders instead of politicians at the federal, state, and local levels, we wouldn’t be having this problem.

David Smith

SaddleBrooke

Establish a system to ID high-risk officers

What would be available when law enforcement officers are accountable to be personally licensed and insured in much the same way vehicles and motor vehicle operators are?

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Perhaps a Licensure for Professional Law Enforcement officers? With automobile insurance, when you have infractions, your license gets points. The expense of your insurance rises with more points. There are remedial courses to remove points and reduce insurance costs.

After a number of points have increased, you face license suspension or removal. There is a robust feedback loop. Communities can determine for themselves whether to agree to employ officers with X amount of points — as officers with X points make those communities vulnerable to lawsuits.

No need to reinvent the wheel.

Paul Zohav

East side

Star’s police coverage tinged with negativity

Amid the many serious issues today, I want to affirm all groups who protect and serve us, specifically health-care workers, firefighters and police personnel. Yes, all of them.

My perception is that Arizona Daily Star articles appropriately emphasize the heroic and heartwarming stories about health-care workers and firefighters. In contrast, too many stories regarding police personnel have a very negative emphasis. This must be very disheartening for current and prospective police personnel.

I realize that there are problematic members within each group, but the majority are hardworking, people-oriented and risk-taking individuals working to benefit all of us. What kind of society would we be without them?

News media have an obligation to provide objective and fair reports. It seems this ethical obligation has been eroded in the current climate and 24/7 coverage. This is a loss for everyone and damages our civil and democratic society.

Sheila Corcoran-Perry

Green Valley