Pat Ryan should leave policing to the police

Dear Editor:

Regarding “Ryan wants armored vehicle removed from Ulster County sheriff’s fleet,” June 8, 2020:

Joining the anti-police, proBlack Lives Matter movement is now the hallmark of all elected Democrats. I suggest that war hero Pat Ryan research the North Hollywood, Calif., bank robbery shootout of 1998, in which over 2,000 rounds were fired at police by two robbers with AK-47s. With one officer down and bleeding to death, a civilian Brinks armored car had to be used to rescue this officer because the LAPD did not have one on the scene. A private gun store had to be broken into by the cops so they could obtain weapons to match the firepower of the criminals, who had body armor from head to toe.

Ryan might also research the Great Norco, Calif., bank robbery of the early 1980s, at which the police were outgunned. While he’s sitting at his computer trying to run the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office, he also could look up the facts on police killings of armed and unarmed black men. He might just learn something about these incidents. I would love to see him and anti-police Kingston

Mayor Steve Noble team up with a little police training and ride as partners in a two-man Alpha Car and patrol Midtown Kingston.

Hopefully my friend and fellow veteran Sheriff Juan Figueroa will, as an elected official, tell Ryan to buzz off and support the police of Ulster County.

My qualifications: I served 32 years (1969-2000) with the Santa Ana (Calif.) Police Department and also served with the 26th Marine Regiment, the defenders of Khe Sanh in Vietnam, in 1966-67.

John H. Dittus III

West Hurley