New York, California in race to the bottom

Dear Editor,

Re: Marlboro man arrested 3 times on same day (Freeman, March 18). Being a retired police sergeant who worked the mean streets of Santa Ana, Calif., for 32 years, I found this story to be an example of insanity run amok and the reason that criminal justice in New York and California are in a race to the bottom in the protection of our society.

With our current justice reform movement, this subject appears to have an addiction to crack cocaine and no legal driver’s license. Each time he was arrested, he was released with a traffic ticket and his vehicle was not impounded, so he could use the same vehicle for two out of three arrests!

Did he spend any time sobering up between arrests? Will he appear before the court? It’s never mentioned in the Freeman what the percentage is of criminals who appear/fail to appear on these non-booking/no bail arrests.

Who is responsible for this insanity? The Democratic Party that controls both New York and California is the answer, and the bums who supported this legislation should be thrown out of office.

Where are the police executives, mayors, sheriffs, and DAs we pay through our taxes to protect us from these criminals? Perhaps this is one of the reasons that so many folks are moving out of California and New York to states that support our officers, deputies, and troopers!

John H. Dittus III West Hurley, N.Y. The writer is a retired sergeant with the Santa Ana (Calif.)

Police Dept.