• The curious case of the unidentified policeman • Clean air a basic right? • Update needed on fatal accident The curious case of the unidentified policeman I’ve been baffled and left scratching my head while searching for news regarding the 19-year-old struck
• The curious case of the unidentified policeman • Clean air a basic right? • Update needed on fatal accident
The curious case of the unidentified policeman
I’ve been baffled and left scratching my head while searching for news regarding the 19-year-old struck and killed on the highway in Waimea.
Not by one, but two vehicles. That was the initial headline when the news broke, along the lines of “Victim struck a second time by an officer in a police vehicle.” Pretty interesting wording if you ask me.
Two pedestrians have been killed in recent months. What baffles me is that the victims’ identities were promptly released as well as the drivers involved. The paper also printed the charges they face. Why is the name of the officer being withheld?
I do not want this officer to be ostracized, nor do I want to hear the argument that his identity being known would interfere with his duties. The public deserves to know; accountability is needed no matter what your job may be.
Is there a double standard? I’m sure the officer feels horrible. Police are overworked and underpaid but that doesn’t warrant special privileges.
The family deserves answers and so does the general public.
Dan O’Flaherty
Kapaa
Clean air a basic right?
“… like everyone else, has the right to breathe clean air.”
If the mere proclamation of a right made it so, would not Madame Pele be subject to an environmental assessment study, at the very least? Is there any other source of pollution in this state more egregious than that 30-plus years of noxious belching?
The proclamation of a right has the obligation of the recognition of reality. If I move next door to a house with a chimney, when does my right to move somewhere else prevail over my right to demand my neighbor cease using that utility?
Russell Boyer
Hanalei
Update needed on fatal accident
I want to know the update on KPD and the officer who struck Michael Kocher. I don’t read The Garden Island every single day, so I’m not sure if there was one, but I feel like this is an issue that really touched me and I believe the public would also like to know what the outcome was for the family of Michael, as well as what happened to resolve the issue of the officer who struck him.
Every time I pass the accident site, I wonder how could such an accident happen on a road that is clearly a straight away? And if there were other people around the scene of the accident, how could this officer not see them? And what type of officer speeds up to the scene? I know it was an accident where he must’ve been thinking he needed to respond as soon as possible, but doesn’t it make sense to slow down as you are approaching the scene?
Most of all, I just hope this family had closure but I would like an update for the rest of the Garden Isle, because like any of our own family, I believe this young boy was close to many Kauai locals and I’m sure they would like closure as well. I don’t want this to be something where KPD says to themselves, “If we keep quiet long enough, the public will move on.”
I really hope we hear something from them and not just “move on.”
Emi Nollar
Kalaheo
