Police reform in state is long overdue

Letter writer Kathleen Kelly has expressed her outrage at the passing of the much needed police reform bills by the Maryland legislature (“Proposed police reforms go soft on criminals,” March 5).

She suggests that we should be sympathetic with police who must deal with the “dregs of society.”

Is the letter writer including the police officer charged with child pornography (“Baltimore SWAT officer from Harford County faces federal child pornography charges,” March 1) or the long-term police officer who has been charged with multiple counts of arson and attempted murder in multiple jurisdictions (“Ex-Laurel police chief charged with 12 arsons, targeting officials he disagreed with, police say,” March 3)?

Has the letter writer forgotten all the police officers charged with corruption who are currently serving sentences in federal prisons (“Ex-Baltimore police officer convicted in Gun Trace Task Force fallout said he cooperated with investigations,” Jan. 19)?

Have we forgotten all the Maryland politicians who have been charged and sentenced over many years?

Police officers are to provide service. How is this possible if they refer to the communities they are paid to protect as being populated by the “dregs of society?” Drug addiction and crime are now present in many neighborhoods across the state and nation.

Is the former president who incited an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, which resulted in at least five deaths, included in the “dregs of society?”

Police reform is long overdue in our state and country. If the legislation goes too far or does not go far enough, it can be tweaked and improved upon during future legislative sessions.

I strongly suggest that any young people who are considering a career in law enforcement ponder this career choice especially if they view large segments of our communities as being populated by the “dregs of society” as this is not an appropriate career choice for them.

We need to hold law enforcement to a very high standard. We need to hire officers who are intellectually and emotionally up to the job.

We need police officers who respect our fellow citizens and we need to support those officers who are working hard to keep our communities safe.

Three University of Tennessee football players are facing an indefinite suspension from the team after campus police logs show they were arrested on misdemeanor charges related to drug possession and paraphernalia in a dorm. Martavius French, Isaac Washington and Aaron Willis were among five people arrested for a March 9 incident at Stokely Hall on the Knoxville campus, the campus police log says. Another student and a juvenile were also arrested. “We are aware of an incident that occurred at Stokely Hall involving football student-athletes,” Tennessee Athletics said in a statement Friday. “The individuals involved in the incident have been suspended indefinitely from football activities pending further review of the matter by the university.” French is a freshman linebacker from Memphis who did not see any action in 2020. He was a four-star recruit. Washington is a three-star defensive lineman from Pilot Mountain, North Carolina who signed with Tennessee in December. Willis is a four-star linebacker from Midlothian, Virginia. He also signed with Tennessee in December. It was not immediately clear if the players have retained attorneys who might comment.