Opinion

Letters to the Editor — Jan. 20, 2023

The Issue: President Biden’s comment that cops need to be retrained to avoid using deadly force.

President Biden’s remarks about training police officers to aim for a leg or an arm when confronting a violent criminal just shows how out of touch and uninformed he is (“Blue meanie Joe’s divisive cop tirade,” Michael Goodwin, Jan. 18).

He follows the left-wing, progressive line that has done so much damage to our crime-fighting efforts. He cares nothing about the lives of police officers or the many victims of violent crime we see daily.

He is a figurehead for the extreme left and has no idea of the problems that the people of this country face.

Robert DeCandia

New Hyde Park

The man who could screw up a simple “Happy Birthday” song is now bloviating about how all police need to become sharpshooters.

See how it’s always the good guys’ methods that are in need of perpetual scrutiny? Instead, let’s have that uncomfortable conversation about the actions and behaviors of individuals when stopped by the police.

Gary Kaelin

Commack

The “uniter” Biden screws up his own presidency but presumes to tell police how to do their job.

He bloviates and caters to Rev. Al Sharpton by intimating that police are too quick to shoot.

Biden inanely advises police, when threatened by a violent or deranged person, to aim for the legs instead of the heart. As if every cop is a sharp-shooter and can’t miss a leg shot.

He watches too many TV cop shows. Cops are trained to de-escalate life-or-death situations, but sometimes de-escalation fails and deadly force is used.

One further point: In my 35 years as a NYPD captain, I never met any cop who came to work wanting to shoot anyone. Their lives matter, too, Mr. President.

Joseph Valente

Staten Island

So good old Joe, after sitting around in the library of his Delaware house using classified documents as a coaster for his hot chocolate and watching reruns of “T.J Hooker” and “Barnaby Jones,” thinks cops should be retrained so they can shoot thugs in the hand or leg as opposed to using deadly force. This man is an absolute imbecile.

Jake McNicholas

Whitestone

The Issue: The Judiciary Committee’s rejection of Hector LaSalle to lead New York’s highest court.

The state Senate Judiciary Committee’s narrow rejection of Appellate Division Presiding Justice Hector LaSalle for chief judge is a disturbing sign of a Democratic conference that elevates its political ideology over judicial independence and competence (“Gov’s top-judge pick overruled by far left,” Jan. 19).

Political ideologues have hijacked the process and spurned confirming a distinguished Latino judge.

The failure to clear the committee, led by Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, is a dark day for democracy, and strongly suggests that a veto-proof Legislature will control the Albany governmental agenda for the foreseeable future.

The moderate middle has been rejected. Dems’ disturbing message to Latinos: “Drop dead.”

Roger Bennet Adler

Manhattan

Gov. Hochul’s reward for caving to her back-stabbing progressive “friends” on crime, education and bail reform was a historic and humiliating defeat of the highly qualified LaSalle to lead New York’s highest court.

That LaSalle is a Latino Democrat with humble roots had no bearing on the radical left (who love to eat their own).

Where is the outcry from the Hispanic leaders who abandoned LaSalle as he was about to make history?

Anthony Scro

Whitestone

Want to weigh in on today’s stories? Send your thoughts (along with your full name and city of residence) to [email protected]. Letters are subject to editing for clarity, length, accuracy and style.