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I had hope for Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara until I read the Star Tribune excerpts from the roundtable published in the April edition of Harper’s Magazine (”O’Hara says there’s blame to go around for Mpls. policing issues,” March 20). Two comments really stand out: the first, his disappointment and apparent befuddlement that his officers “approach every situation like it might be a dangerous encounter.” Really? And this guy has worked as a cop? Guess what, when you respond to a call, there is always a possibility that things will go south, and savvy officers will be cognizant, diligent and prepared for that possibility. That doesn’t mean they can’t be friendly while remaining professional and work some humor into what often seems a humorless job.
The second: O’Hara is mystified when in firearms training. “Why are we training people to [opt at times from shooting center-mass to] shoot in the head?” While I will skip the explanation to avoid instructing would-be shooters how to enhance their survival skills, every single cop in Minnesota, and probably the entire nation — other than O’Hara — knows why this is included in firearms training. I don’t know if he was trying to portray himself as Officer Friendly who is flabbergasted by police training that has some focus on the real possibility that some people are willing to use violence against police or if he’s just totally clueless. Either way, I wouldn’t expect a surge of young recruit candidates rushing to sign up with a department that does not take officer safety seriously.
Richard Greelis, Bloomington
The writer is a retired police officer.
RED LAKE NATION
Much irony in land transfer debate
Regarding “Legislation would give Red Lake Nation state land” (March 21): I do sympathize with the concerns of residents and business owners of the area.
However, it struck me as ironic that the quote about legislation that would “choke our local economy, threaten livelihoods, ruin property values and take away our ability to stay in our own homes” could certainly have been attributed to the 1889 residents of Red Lake.