Letter: Boost funding to educate, train police

Graphic by Lori Deaton

Most police, like most people, are good human beings. These hardworking individuals put a bulletproof vest on as part of their uniform. Every traffic stop and engagement with the public has the potential to escalate to a violent ending. Stop for a moment and put yourself in their shoes.

For years, there has been a degradation of funding for social services and mental health advocates. This is wrong and unfortunate, but funding should not come at the expense of law enforcement. In fact, funding for our people in blue should be increased to better educate them on conflict resolution and sensitivity training.

“Our” police risk their lives to protect and serve, and I am personally grateful for their presence.

— Karen Lepore
Asheville

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Letters
We want to hear from you! Send your letters and commentary to letters@mountainx.com

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

3 thoughts on “Letter: Boost funding to educate, train police

  1. bsummers

    I was a spokesman for Asheville Justice Watch almost 20 years ago. We lobbied to get a citizens review board to address complaints of police violence, among other things. I advocated back then and still believe, that we should spend more on the type of training Karen talks about.

    I would also support paying police more in general, if it came along with a guarantee that bad apples would be weeded out toot sweet.

    1
    2
    • Fin

      Maybe if you put your energy into reducing violence in neighborhoods, police wouldn’t be needed as much. But that would require to get off your pedestal.

      2
      1
    • Michael Hopping

      I was also involved in and reported on local police violence back in the day. Under the then new APD Chief Hogan and BCSD Sheriff Duncan, better training of APD and BCSD officers trained in de-escalation strategies appeared to contribute substantially to a sudden reduction in people shot by officers. This was, of course, before the militarization of law enforcement.

      Now, the Us v Them problem has become general: Warrior Cops v Suspect Population. It’s an attitude apparent in the Letter to the Editor. Yes, They lack social services but . . . Of course, this would not explain police misconduct at last summer’s protests. That was a bumbling display of militarized dominance over a politically suspect Other objecting to police treatment of Black Americans.

      The militarization of law enforcement and the further entrenchment of the impunity that went along with it is an educational problem for police and citizenry alike and should receive immediate attention.. In addition, I think it’s critical to assess the legal and physical accoutrements supporting police militarization with a goal of reducing them and returning officers to status as community guardians rather than soldiers in the army of a racist status quo.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.