The face of policing

Regarding “Officers’ faces should mirror places they police” (Page A21, Wednesday), there seems to be a lot of input from people who have no background in law enforcement, giving advice on how the police should do their jobs.

The author of this essay believes that police should work in areas that match their own race. We used to do that many decades ago, and while that may have worked back then, the reality is, there are not enough minority cops to work in minority neighborhoods.

The author’s premise that African- American police are less likely to shoot African-American suspects is only due to numbers. The fact that he believes suspects armed with concealed weapons are not able to access them shows he is uninformed about the dynamics of how rapidly a fight for one’s life (on either side) evolves.

I spent almost half my career working a predominately Hispanic, lower-middle class, gang-infested neighborhood as a non-Hispanic minority peace officer using the community policing model. I was not always popular, but I got results.

There are currently three parks in Harris County named after Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies. I am the only one so named while still living.

John Mook, Houston