Letters: KC readers discuss KCPD’s dilemma, Star sports page puns and debate fairness
Who’s at fault?
The Kansas City Star Editorial Board focused on Monecia Smith’s having recorded a crime on her home security network’s camera. (Oct. 18, 20A, “A lack of trust in the police fuels gun violence in Kansas City”) She refused to share the video with law enforcement because of her lack of trust in police, yet she let a member of homicide victim Derrick Smith’s family view the recording. The police eventually kicked in her door while executing a search warrant when she was not home.
Smith withheld evidence of a crime yet shared it with the victim’s family, which fosters retaliation and more violence. The police were between a rock and a hard place because she could have accidentally erased or lost the video.
The community distrusts the police, yet residents hinder investigations by not being forthcoming with evidence of crimes.
I’m sure that after a few incidents of being unable to do their jobs, the police make judgments not to waste manpower. This gives the media a story that might be one-sided.
- Bob Cleary, Overland Park
In good pun
I eagerly anticipate the punny headline on the sports section’s front page after a Chiefs game. Tuesday morning’s “Evening rush hour” was spot on. I congratulate whoever comes up with these. It brightens my day.
- Roger B. Miller, Bonner Springs
Our perceptions
I am a white person, born in Kansas City and raised in Jackson County. I have no doubt that the statements by the Black people in Sunday’s front-page story “KC residents: Lack of trust in police drives gun violence” are true, as I have heard accounts like this from Black people of my acquaintance.
The contempt and disrespect shown by police toward the woman interviewed in this article — telling her, “Get your ass back in the house!” for example — are breathtaking, as is the statement by Kansas City Police spokesman Capt. David Jackson that if some Black residents feel unfairly treated, that is their perception.
If white people of comfort and privilege (or their children) were subjected to the treatment described in this article, how they would howl.
- Jo Heinzman, Kansas City, Kan.
Balance needed
It was in 1984 that the Commission on Presidential Debates wrested the debates from the League of Women Voters. This commission has been described as nonpartisan, but it is in fact bipartisan — jointly owned by the Republican and Democratic parties.
Their intent is to make sure Americans clearly understand that this is a two-party system. No other voices are allowed.
I firmly believe that the commission should get out of the way and allow the League of Women Voters to conduct the debates again. It did a much better job in its truly nonpartisan way.
In 1987, the Federal Communications Commission rescinded its Fairness Doctrine, which dictated that holders of broadcast licenses had to present conservative and liberal voices to provide balance. With its repeal, conservative voices are allowed to spew lies untethered to reality or fact-check.
I may sound like an angry Democrat, but actually, I’m an angry Republican. I don’t agree with the lies the party is filling people’s heads with today. This ugly rhetoric is driving the wedge that divides lawmakers and friends apart. I believe the Fairness Doctrine should be returned.
- Timothy Wand, Independence
This story was originally published October 21, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Letters: KC readers discuss KCPD’s dilemma, Star sports page puns and debate fairness."