To the editor,
Being a former law enforcement officer, one question “screams” for an answer, in regards to the Ferguson, Mo., shooting.
Since the 1970s on, “Mace” has been a standard issue for law officers. For those who wonder what Mace is, it is a small aerosol container carried on an officer’s belt. It is a pressurized form of tear gas. It has been used for years to “defuse” situations like the Michael Brown incident. Why was it not used?
According to Police Officer Darren Wilson, he could not use his Taser because of the limited space in the cruiser. He had time to get his handgun out of his holster, so he could just as well have pulled his Mace, and if Brown was as close as he stated he could have sprayed him in the face and eyes with the Mace. That would have ended the altercation once the subject was handcuffed, and his face flushed with water. It would have ended, and Michael Brown would still be alive. The so-called mountain of evidence has nothing to say about alternatives that could have been used.
If you have become a law officer with an embedded “fear for your life,” you are in the wrong profession.
In the years I was affiliated with law enforcement in the state of Maine, I never heard of a lawman killing anyone with his weapon or otherwise. Now you can kill someone if you are in fear for your life. This law gives a poorly trained officer, who is basically a coward, a license to kill.
The “mockery” of justice in the return of “no bill” against Darren Wilson makes honest law officers hang their heads in shame. God help us all.
Ron Nickerson
Guilford
