•Don’t blame KPD •Stand up to sovereignty •Put bogus bonuses in perspective Don’t blame KPD After 34 years in law enforcement I should get used to it, but unfortunately it is still very difficult to read letters like the one
•Don’t blame KPD
•Stand up to sovereignty
•Put bogus bonuses in perspective
Don’t blame KPD
After 34 years in law enforcement I should get used to it, but unfortunately it is still very difficult to read letters like the one by Ms. Noelle Barnes from Hanalei entitled, “Angry with the wrong people.” (Letters, March 15)
How on earth you bridge the gap between that SNL skit to the Kaua‘i Police Department is beyond me. Our police officers and support staff continue to work tirelessly to keep our community safe on a daily basis, while being understaffed, working long hours, participating in community events, sacrificing time away from their families, and the like.
But still there are uniformed individuals who have nothing better to do then point the jaundice finger at KPD. Not only is it frustrating but it is wrong. If Ms. Barnes believes that police is the sole deterrent to crime, then she is not well informed, and did not do her research.
Police are the front line in keeping our community safe, but we are just part of a larger equation that includes community support, the Prosecutor’s office, judiciary, corrections, nonprofits, and other state and county agencies that provide social care.
I realize we are the most visible, and so it becomes very easy to take aim and pull the trigger, but before doing that, think things through and do your due diligence by doing what we tell our children to do: your homework.
For the record, we have had significant drugs busts that have been recognized on a national level all the way to Washington D.C. and have been in the local newspapers and on television. Suspects have pleaded guilty in Federal Court and will be sent away for a long, long time.
But we haven’t stopped there and sat on our laurels, we continue to work hard and have several on-going drug investigations. As the Police Chief, I am very proud of what we’ve accomplished, the improvements we’ve made, the services we’re providing, and the acknowledgment we have received from our informed community members.
For the 98 percent of our community members who believe in what we’re doing, I want to personally and professionally thank you on behalf of the men and women of KPD.
Darryl Perry, Chief of Police
Stand up to sovereignty
Thanks for the article about the shenanigans at the Kaua‘i County Council last week. (“Reinstated Hawaiian Government marks 10 years of sovereignty,” The Garden Island, March 15”
Henry Noa and his gang from the “Reinstated Hawaiian Government” can rant all they want. The problem comes if Noa and his gang members actually carry out their threat that “we, the reinstated government, will be conducting activities … such as roadway use, conducting business on former Crown lands, and even reclamation of property from U.S. possession.”
Let’s warn the wannabe hooligans that illegal acts will not be tolerated. Let’s laugh out loud at the absurd sovereignty claims being made. Stand up to bullies threatening thuggery.
The revolution of 1893 was done by local residents and subjects of the Kingdom, not by the U.S. The successor Republic of Hawai‘i was recognized as the rightful government by all the same nations that had previously recognized the Kingdom.
Take a deep breath and repeat after me: Hawai‘i is legitimately the 50th state of the United States. We are proud to be Americans. We will not allow secessionists to intimidate us, or racists to seize control of assets that belong to us all.
Giving aid and comfort to people like Henry Noa is a very bad idea. Please see my book “Hawaiian Apartheid: Racial Separatism and Ethnic Nationalism in the Aloha State.”
Kenneth Conklin, Kaneohe
Put bogus bonuses in perspective
What is wrong with all the outrage about the bogus bonus payments? I think we may be missing the point. We are all in agreement that they are a major moral mistake. But sadly enough, they appear to be legal in their own warped way.
What may be wrong here is that the bailout figures now scheduled are far greater than $2 trillion and are projected to ultimately be almost $9 trillion for our children and grandchildren to pay off.
How much money is $1 billion? One billion is 1,000 millions, and 1 trillion is 1,000 billions or 1 million millions.
At the moment we are outraged over $150 million compared to $9 trillion. That’s 150 divided by 9 million if my arithmetic is correct. That’s less than 1 percent of 1 percent.
As wrong as the bogus bonuses are, they are economically microscopic compared to the total amount already paid and scheduled to be paid in bailout funds.
With society as it is today, it looks like we shall have to make our future bogus bonuses at least 1 million times larger, right?
E.V. Wahlman, Po‘ipu
