"Gil Kerlikowske has lost control of the SPD."

Violent arrest

Make them pay

Editor, The Times:

It seems to me the only fair way to deal with the potential abusive police behavior in the Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes case ["Police chief exonerated officers in violent arrest," Times, Page One, June 26] is to have the Seattle Police Officers' Guild and Chief Gil Kerlikowske pay any judgment against the city awarded to Alley-Barnes in his federal civil-rights action.

— Dore Svei, Olympia

Repeal obstruction laws

Seattle and Washington state's officer-obstruction statutes need to be repealed. They are vague and overly broad, and allow law-enforcement officers to abuse their power with impunity. Let the bloodied face of Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes be Exhibit No.1.

— Doug Nellis, Seattle

Chief should step down

Gil Kerlikowske has lost control of the SPD. It's time for him to step down, and for Seattle to make some serious changes to its deeply troubled Police Department.

First, the chief must be accountable to the City Council — this will help avoid the current "guardian angel" syndrome, where the allegiance of one politician is all that's needed to keep a bad cop at the top.

Second, we must push even harder on accountability and professionalism from the police — for a relatively small city with a low crime rate, the SPD suffers from a lot of "big city" problems of corruption and bad cops.

Third, the mayor and City Council must work together as has been done elsewhere (e.g., Boston, where many city employees are required to be city residents) to encourage hiring and provision of affordable housing for police officers within Seattle's city limits — meaning fewer "cowboy cops" and better mutual trust and accountability in having cops as neighbors and community members, not just hired enforcers.

It's time for Greg Nickels to tell Kerlikowske to resign — and if Nickels can't see the writing on the wall, chances are, he, too, may be looking for a new job come next election.

— Andrew Cencini, Seattle

Police staffing

Council fails to fund

In response to Tony Martin's letter ["Police Protection," Times, Northwest Voices, June 25], his frustration and anger are totally justified, but misdirected.

I have been a Seattle police officer for more than three decades. Today, the Seattle Police Department has roughly 20 percent fewer uniformed officers on the street responding to citizens' 911 calls than we had in 1971. SPD's patrol officers today are handling over 80 percent more calls than they handled in 1971.

SPD staffing has decreased by seven officers so far this year. Since January 2005, SPD staffing has increased at a rate of 0.4 of one officer per month. At that rate, the 135 new officers authorized by the City Council through the year 2012 will actually be on the streets of Seattle sometime in the year 2035 or later.

The Seattle City Council is responsible for funding public safety and hiring an adequate number of police officers to protect the citizens of Seattle. Response times to 911 calls for service are abysmal. Until Seattle's taxpayers/voters send a very clear signal to their elected officials that they will no longer tolerate this, the situation will continue to worsen.

— Michael Severance, Seattle

Dog registered to vote

County ineptitude

Jane Balogh's real crime ["Down, dog," Times, Editorials, June 25] was in highlighting in such an outlandish way the inept and criminal administration of the voting "system" in King County.

Where was Acting Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg's ire when all those mysterious votes showed up in the last general election? Where is the investigation into how something like this could possibly happen and why is it that you can register to vote and you obviously don't even have to prove, in King County at least, that you are, in fact, human. Proving legality would be beyond the pale in this state.

Not only is Balogh an easy target, she is an embarrassment to those in charge, and we simply cannot have that on County Executive Ron Sims' watch, now can we?

— Phil Bate, Lynnwood

Embarrassment a crime

It's outrageous that the King County prosecutor is pursuing a lady who revealed serious flaws in the county voter-registration system without actually taking advantage of them. The same office a few years ago refused to press vehicular-homicide charges against the wife of a police officer who killed four people in a car crash, despite the urging of the Washington State Patrol.

It seems that our local prosecutor is more interested in discouraging citizens from embarrassing elections officials than it is in protecting those same citizens from dangerous drivers.

— Michael Dolenga, Woodinville

Wind-farm fight

Place of pride

Sandy Sandall, the Kittitas County resident dissatisfied with the prospect of living near wind turbines ["An ugly battle over clean power," Times, Page One, June 26], states his position with the following words of undeniable logic: "This is just not the place."

Evidently, he feels that the fact he is 72 years old and prefers solitude is particularly significant. I venture to guess that had this person not owned a cabin in the aforementioned area, then it might be "the place" for some of these machines after all.

The "not in my backyard" attitude seen so often makes me tired and ashamed. People acknowledge the necessity of living with factors that may be unpleasant at times for the sake of the greater good, as long as it's other people who make the appropriate concessions.

I wonder if it would be possible to walk out one's front door, see an object such as a wind turbine standing nearby, and feel pride at the sight of an effort being made to help the environment rather than to ignore it?

— Tom Likai, Shoreline

Pedestrian dangers

Walk defensively

I think it is widely accepted that the pedestrian accident on Alaskan Way last Friday was a tragedy that should not have happened ["Street anarchy must stop," Times, Northwest Voices, June 26]. It is true that the pedestrians in the crosswalk had the right of way. However, just because one has the right of way doesn't mean the person in the wrong will stop.

I practice being a pedestrian the same as I practice being a driver. That means I "walk defensively." I am aware of my surroundings and I make sure that a driver can see me and is stopping prior to entering a crosswalk. My mom taught me to look both ways before crossing the street.

No driver would ever willingly strike down a pedestrian, but accidents do happen. We all need to watch out for ourselves because no one else is.

When approaching a crosswalk as a pedestrian, look both ways, make eye contact with the driver of the car. Don't be cavalier and strut into the intersection just because you have the right of way. Your fleshy body is no match for a 3,000-pound car, no matter who has the right of way.

— Brent Malesich, Seattle