[email protected]
Sir,
I am not a Medford resident. I imagine that, at this point, you may simply delete this email.
I'm not even an Oregon resident, but rather a resident of Illinois, in the suburbs of Chicago.
I'm just writing to see if the numerous reports regarding the ODOT worker being handcuffed, taken to a hospital and having his guns seized in your town are really accurate. It seems so unlikely, I thought I would write.
I'm a former police officer out here, now working in private protective services. I'm only mentioning that to support my assertion that I'm not 'anti-police' in any way. I'm proud of the time I wore the uniform.
With that said, the idea of taking a person from their home in handcuffs-a person who, as far as I can understand, committed no crime whatsoever- while surrounding his house with a SWAT team, is profoundly disturbing to me.
I understand the ideas of 'officer safety' that your Chief will certainly invoke-in fact, I'm a certified police instructor to this day. But what happened, if those reports are accurate, are the actions of an out-of-control police state, unsupportable in any reasonable sense.
While the police represent protection for the populace, they also represent a threat to the populace if their power is unchecked. This is recognized time and time again in both statutory and case law, and something which even our Supreme Court has discussed repeatedly. It's a concept that is fundamental to the American way of life; our police are regulated, overseen and governed by law, unlike less advanced nations around the globe.
While it seems you've washed your hands of the matter, with a quote I read saying you 'don't participate in the day-to-day operations of your police', you are missing the fundamental point. As the senior elected official in Medford, it is your job to protect us from the police, to ensure they operate within the constraints of the law and to ensure your citizens are not 'policed' unjustly. I urge you to remove your Chief from his position while you investigate this (apparent) abuse of police power. It is, indeed, what you owe 'us', the body of citizens you've been elected to represent.
Respectfully,
MY REAL NAME
MY REAL CITY