Letters: READERS WRITE IN DEFENSE OF THE POLICE

DID SOME people miss the front-page headlines when Officer Liczbinski was shot and killed in the line of duty?

How dare you criticize these police officers for brutalizing three Hunting Park criminals, let alone punish them by taking good officers off the street?

I encourage the police to continue any violent efforts to save the streets of Philadelphia. They need to regain the respect of the community. If you don't want to be "beat up" by a cop, don't commit crimes.

We need to send a message to the bad guys. It disappoints me greatly when I see my former neighborhood, where I once played tag on the streets at night, look like Compton.

It's funny, I go to bed each night not fearing that a police officer is going to brutalize me.

Want to know why? Because I'm an honest, hard-working, tax-paying, decent citizen of the United States. I will continue to work, in the hopes that my tax dollars will build more prisons to cage these animals.

Another message I'd like to send to the mothers of these criminals - you should be ashamed of yourselves for raising these violent creatures. Whatever happened to raising your children to respect authority?

When someone commits any crime, especially, a violent crime, they should be dealt with violently. It's deserved!

Finally, I'd like to send a great big thank you to the police in Philadelphia. You're our heroes, going to war every day in the streets of this city.

I support you, I respect you, and you and your family are in my prayers each night.

Megan DiPrimeo

Philadelphia

I think the men and women of the Philadelphia Police Department deserve support during this tragic time.

Although this recent beating incident is unfortunate and looks bad on the surface, I think all things should be considered. These officers were responding to an extremely violent call. While police officers should be held to a higher standard, incidents like this aren't a daily occurrence, but the violence they respond to most certainly is.

Kelly Comitalo, Philadelphia

"Protect and Serve" is the motto of the Philadelphia Police Department.

Over the last 10 years or more, Philly's finest have done anything but protect and serve our citizens.

When I was a child growing up in Philadelphia, the police were feared. Now, at 30, I watch as children, teenagers and adults have no regard for the law or our city's police. Once known as the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia's new nickname is "Kill-adelphia" - for which we should all bow our heads down in shame.

We citizens contradict ourselves too often. We want the city to get tough on crime, but as soon as we get tough, it's too much. Think about this: If you live by the law, and you don't break it, why do you care so much about what happens to those who do?

Raquel Szatkowski, Philadelphia

Cheer for a mosque

Re mosques and the shooting suspects they won't help bury:

That person is a true religious leader, holding accountable those who sin against what their faith holds dear.

Greg Bucceroni, Philadelphia