Walking On Egg Shells…

Dear Editor:

This is my response to the feature story (Nov. 7)  “Charles Eimers Update: Police, Death, and Missing Videotapes” by Arnaud and Naja Girard.

After a cursory reading I’m rather out of breath – such an astonishing codification of events surrounding Key West’s most sickening incident of police violence, which has received national media attention.

After a second scanning I am left with a sense of thankfulness that (1) we have a citizen-authors concerned enough to research and articulate the topic, and that (2) we have a publisher who is willing to challenge Key West’s power base. Without this combo we’re at the mercy of the same sinister and corrupt government styles that thrive in all apathetic societies.  Thank goodness for our First Amendment guarantees of free speech and a free press.

Police brutality here is a tricky problem because Key West is so small.  The possibility of reprisals are palpable.  I feel as if we’re walking on egg-shells.  Just look at how our Police Review Board has become a creature of the very organization it was set up to monitor.  What an embarrassment.  Should that board be disbanded?  That’s an article dying to see print!

While police brutality problem is pandemic in America, our Mayor should set up an independent study group to investigate such alleged brutality in Key West alone.  We must confront, analyze, and evaluate it.  Specific recommended solutions should be reviewed annually at the Mayor’s State of the City report at the start of the New Year.

Furthermore, I recently read an article about a candidate for another city’s police department; he wasn’t hired because his IQ was too high.  That city maintained the IQ standard for police candidates should be fixed at 100, which is the statistical norm.  So, does Key West have a similar standard?  Does the city have any mandatory in-service courses on the Bill of Rights and Community Image problems?

Lastly, perhaps the Mayor should resurrect “The Key West Code of Ethics” that was adopted by the Board of Commissioners almost a decade ago and then trashed?

Very truly yours,

John N. Gish Jr.