Fear of cops — Black cops too

Re “What the Tyre Nichols video doesn’t show,” editorial, Jan. 31

I am a white woman with a Black son and three Black grandsons. I worried about my son growing up in L.A. in the 1970s when police abuse was a frequent headline.

Now, I fear Black officers stopping my grandsons on their way home from school, after a baseball game or a school activity. I tell the boys to take Uber, a costly expense, instead of waiting for a bus. Don’t stand under a streetlight by yourself.

The fears are real. Don’t look for a Black police officer to be a friend and come to your rescue. They’ll use their power against you.

Donna Myrow Palm Springs

Caught up in the passion of the moment, the anti-law enforcement, race-obsessed Times editorial board is prepared to go to any lengths to tie race into virtually any issue or event.

The facts are elementary. Five Black cops who work for a department that is 58% Black brutally beat a Black man. Race has no bearing in this case. This is a case of five rogue cops who deserve to be prosecuted.

Furthermore, as in any profession there will always be a few bad apples, but The Times is fixated on demonizing law enforcement. Shameful.

Sam Chaidez Mission Hills

Nearly 60 years ago, Marlon Brando held up a cattle prod before thousands of protesters at the March on Washington. He was issuing a serious reproach to law enforcement officials. Segregationist sheriffs in Alabama and Georgia had pioneered the use of cattle prods on human beings who were protesting for civil rights.

Where is the reproach for the use of Tasers by law enforcement today? Many Americans were appalled by the “inhumane” use of cattle prods in the 1960s, and some are now reeling from the use of Tasers on Tyre Nichols in Memphis and Keenan Anderson in Los Angeles.

How and when was the use of this weapon vetted by the communities that law enforcement serves? What studies have confirmed the efficacy of Taser use in subduing suspects?

Amid all the talk about police reform, the use of Tasers by law enforcement must become a primary topic of discussion.

D. Keith Naylor South Pasadena