Dear Editor,
At last! No truer headline can ever be found than “Judge: Police deserve respect” in the Feb. 28 edition of The Columbian-Progress. After weeks of reading articles beating down our town’s police department, we found satisfaction that others recognized that a police force in any town is to be respected.
We applaud our police chief, Michael Kelly, for all he has been doing in Columbia to connect with its citizens. We thank each and every officer, detective and member of our force for their commitment to serving our community.
Is our police force perfect? Probably not, but they are certainly better than the beliefs and innuendo the prior newspaper articles would have you believe. We have been bombarded with feelings and accusations not substantiated with any printed facts. The statement, “It’s always been this way” in Columbia drums up “Amens!” and hostility that shouldn't be encouraged in any community.
Columbia has been blessed with a re-energized sentiment for our town. Instead of trying to promote division within its citizens, we should all be working together to capture and keep the momentum in helping us be recognized statewide as a great place to live and work.
We thank Judge Tony Mozingo for reminding us all that our police force deserves respect, and we hope that in the future we will all wait for the facts to be presented before making judgments.
Quin and Camille Breland
Columbia
