Police on right track but need to do more

Dear Editor: The news that the Kingston Police Department is disciplining the officers who roughed up Adrin Brodhead in Midtown last July is encouraging.

Although I applaud the department’s move to discipline the officers in question, I am left wondering why Brodhead’s trial has not been dropped if the police department admits the actions of its officers violated current policies. For what else could their agreement to discipline the officers in question be attributed to?

I’m also concerned that the department has not offered any details of what this discipline will consist of and urge it to release that information immediately.

I am grateful to the police for their service I recognize that their jobs are challenging, stressful and dangerous. Nonetheless, the police department’s mission “to protect and to serve” must apply to all citizens, regardless of their race, gender or age.

Unfortunately, the incident with Brodhead, the officers’ interactions with two black high school students in November, and the repeated tasing of Fabian Marshall in the fall of 2015 point to a troubling pattern of racially biased, abusive actions that must be addressed and stopped.

I urge the Kingston Police Department to make any disciplinary actions meaningful (and to make them publicly known) and to implement mandatory, thorough training in recognizing and preventing racial bias, as well as in de-escalation strategies.

Eve Fox, Woodstock