Bad guys deserve what they get from police

To the editor:

I am so sick and tired of seeing your newspaper run down our Police Department. It’s pathetic. If you would look at your own neighborhood crime report, you would see crime is rampant throughout the valley. The police are having a hard time trying to keep it under control. If you want them to be wimps, maybe we should hire the Girl Scouts.

Granted, there will be times when an officer may make the wrong decision during the heat of battle. How many keepers of peace should be lost, however, because they hesitate to act? My feelings are, if you act like a bad guy, you should be treated like a bad guy.

As to the recent killing of Gulf War veteran Stanley Gibson, perhaps he was released from the military too soon. Service personnel are thrown a rifle and go through a boot camp that trains them to kill to survive. Don’t you think there should be a boot camp for returning forces to help them return to civilian life? They should be evaluated by professional personnel and then released.

Of course, it would be an additional burden on the military budget, but put the blame on the ones responsible.

NORMAN SIEGRIST

LAS VEGAS

Whose judgment?

To the editor:

In his Wednesday letter to the editor, Todd Wheelan made the point, based on the Review-Journal’s recent series “Judging the Judges,” that “judges should be appointed by the executive branch — by the governor and/or a judicial evaluation committee” rather than be elected by the voters.

His arguments were persuasive, but he missed the one reason why we cannot allow politicians to appoint judges: We cannot trust any politician to name anyone to any position. If we could, I would wholeheartedly agree with him.

All we have to look at is the most recent Harry Reid fiasco, in which the meddler-in-chief got his son Josh named Henderson’s city attorney even though Josh Reid did not qualify until the city watered down its own published criteria. If politicians are allowed to appoint judges, we will have nothing but unqualified Josh Reids running our courts.

I may not be the most knowledgeable person to vote for the best candidates for judge, as Mr. Wheelan alludes, but in doing what is best for me, the voter, I have proved to myself that I can trust my own judgment.

Our elected officials have continually shown me that I cannot trust theirs.

Bob Ashby

Las Vegas

Step backward

To the editor:

As a former deputy Las Vegas constable, I applaud the Review-Journal’s Wednesday article exposing the chaos in this office.

After retiring from Metro, I was hired by Robert “Bobby G” Gronauer, who was a retired Las Vegas police sergeant when he was elected Las Vegas constable. Prior to Mr. Gronauer’s election, constables ran a haphazard office, with their officers not permitted to carry guns, wear uniforms or even have radios to call for backup. Past scandals included badge selling and missing money. The office ran in the red and required taxpayer subsidies.

Mr. Gronauer brought with him his law enforcement experience, professionalizing the look and the operations of the office. He put us in uniforms, gave us police radios for safety (if you think being a constable doing evictions is not dangerous, think again), and allowed us to carry guns for protection, as we worked alone and had no backup if we were threatened. We were required to complete 24 hours of in-service training every year. Constables, including those retired from Metro, were allowed to carry a gun until they completed specific courses.

Whenever possible, he hired retired and former police officers with demonstrated skills. The office paid for itself with fees collected — not with county funds — and with overages returned to county coffers. Constable Gronauer impressed upon us that we were not police officers, we were court officers. We were employed to serve court papers and do evictions only. We had no lights to make traffic stops and were not allowed to make arrests.

What has since been allowed to occur in this office is indeed sad. What a giant step backward. John Bonventura used the similarity of his name with the Bonaventure judges here in Clark County to get elected. I am not aware that he has any law enforcement background, yet he was elected to a position that needs a leader with that kind of training and professionalism.

Voters in this county need to do better research when electing their public officials. At the next election, let’s bring professionalism back to the constable’s office.

Clark Coleman

Las Vegas

Iowa fan

To the editor:

Matt Miller (Dec. 31 Review-Journal) has a right to his opinions concerning health care, education and other matters in which government is involved. But his statement that Iowans have a “far-right tilt” is ludicrous.

The Iowa congressional delegation has a majority of Democrats, and Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin has represented Iowa since 1985. Does Mr. Miller know that Barack Obama carried Iowa? I suspect Mr. Miller has watched a few too many commercials showing Iowans sitting on hay bales at political rallies.

Mr. Miller has much to learn about Iowa, such as the state’s involvement designing and building the communications and tracking equipment for the moon mission and being the most literate state in the union. He also needs to learn that not a single delegate to the national convention will be chosen in the Iowa caucuses.

HAROLD TIBBETTS

MESQUITE