Riverside arrest case turns law enforcement upside down

Tuesday, April 9, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The individuals arrested entered our country illegally and refused to yield to recognized law enforcement officers in pursuit of their vehicle. Instead, they chose to endanger the lives of large numbers of motorists in Southern California, sideswiping vehicles, forcing some vehicles off the road, and throwing beer cans, food and parts of their camper truck in an effort to avoid capture.

The potential for severe injury caused by these individuals, including death and major property damage, has gone unnoticed. A foreign object thrown through a driver's windshield at 60 mph would have proved devastating.

While no one should condone unnecessary violence, we at least can understand the reactions of the three sheriff's deputies involved. We are not police officers, but we understand the risks they assume in the interests of safety for all of society. One need only recall the all-too-frequent reports in the newspapers of routine traffic stops resulting in the murder or serious injury of our law enforcement professionals.

The response of the police officers in this incident seems reasonable to us, considering the behavior of those apprehended.

As usual, ethnic groups, self-serving politicians and, of course, the ACLU (yawn) are now jumping on the bandwagon in the customary programmed responses to denounce these so-called "acts of brutality."

Indeed, we are disgusted as well. However, our disgust focuses on those individuals who created this environment and those who would defend the acts of criminals over the laws and safety of society.

Thomas A. Jennings

Kathleen F. Jennings