• Give 3 KPD officers a second chance • Stow Mainland attitude • It’s common sense time on Kaua‘i Give 3 KPD officers a second chance It is true that police are held to higher standards. So are our lawmakers,
• Give 3 KPD officers a second chance
• Stow Mainland attitude
• It’s common sense time on Kaua‘i
Give 3 KPD officers a second chance
It is true that police are held to higher standards. So are our lawmakers, including the County Council — but that’s another letter.
Regarding the pending case of three police officers, here is all I can manage to get from the county prosecutor: Three guys played hooky from a seminar, from a subject they could teach, had fun from their high-stress job, then signed papers stating they didn’t.
While I am not excusing their actions, I am very troubled by the way this is being handled. Having a “higher-standard” job should not mean that we cannot be professional enough ourselves by protecting their dignity and keeping it within the confines of the KPD.
Instead, they made the front page of The Garden Island for all their friends and family to see. Then we learned they might not only lose their jobs, but they may be facing jail time as well.
To the county prosecutor: You’ve made your point. As for “setting an example,” there is nothing new about feeding police to the sharks whenever it enhances your political agenda.
I am in the medical field, so I have no direct ties, nor do I know these officers personally. I can tell you, though, whether I’m working in the emergency room at Wilcox or just talking story to officers off-hours, they always have been professional and courteous. I’ve known them to be this way for over 30 years of living on Kaua‘i. They are, after all, our friends and neighbors.
As yourselves now, how is the public served by terminating the jobs of these three and impoverishing their families while they serve time in prison? How many tax dollars will be spent to pursue this case and house three new inmates for five years while we have to find their replacements?
Now consider the alternative: Give them a second chance! They are not hardened criminals. They already have training and experience. and you can bet they won’t repeat their mistakes. What happens to people when you give them a second chance? They become grateful and fiercely loyal to those responsible for that second chance, and frequently turn out to be the best workers.
Remember the times when the police gave you a break when they didn’t have to? Isn’t it time we give them one?
Bob Clemmons
Wailua Homesteads
Stow Mainland attitude
In response to the letters about dogs barking and roosters crowing:
I would like to say to you personally, when you came to visit Hawai‘i, you fell in love with it and later decided to move and live here. Good and well, but then ever since many of you Mainlanders came here to live, soon after settling in you’re trying to change things around. The joy and reward of living here on our islands in Hawai‘i is that it is a place where we can live peacefully with a lot of different nationalities with different cultures. Everyone does their own thing here. Our homes that we bought are ours to do with what we want and live in within our county laws without neighbors complaining. If you want dogs, God bless. If you want roosters, God bless. If you want to make an imu in your front yard and put a pig in it, God bless. We don’t tell our neighbors what to do. What we do is treat them with respect.
When we bought our homes we were not looking for a reason on how to burn or cause trouble to our neighbors. Most locals call the elders uncle or aunty, brother or sister, not by their first names. We as locals also respect each other and consider all of our friends and family a big ‘ohana. Look up the definition of ‘ohana, you probably don’t know that too. The word aloha should come from your heart and not only from your lips. The word aloha has a meaning to us and isn’t just a word that we learned. I truly want to say to you if you came here and you are not happy with our lifestyle but would like to change something, I suggest you change your mind of staying and go back where you came from. I must say it was a lot more peaceful prior to some of you crybabies visiting here and deciding to make it your home and not appreciating the way it was. For those of you that are thinking of moving here: I am also informing you that we were born and raised here and are here to stay.
Think twice before making a move and making our lives here miserable like it is on the Mainland.
Local culture emphasizes ways of sharing and appreciating. Mainland culture is ways of taking and changing to benefit their own needs and not the majority of Kaua‘i.
Royden Orsatelli
‘Ele‘ele
It’s common sense time on Kaua‘i
In answer to Pete Antonson’s letter “It’s nitwit time on Kauai,” Letters, Feb. 20:
I quote your letter to the editor: “Shouldn’t our laws be against those irresponsible owners who permit bad dog behaviors rather than an outright ban?”
I can see it now … did your dog complete his anger management class? Does your dog have his/her rabies shot? And who, I dare ask, is going to determine if a dog has a bad disposition. Another question would be, “Did your dog go to the bathroom before your walk”?
Most importantly, who is going to be responsible for enforcing your idea, Mr. Antonson? Get over it. This is a county park for humans to enjoy. Before you call people names, you should really take a course in common sense.
DuAnne Torres
Kapa‘a
