Letters: Further thoughts inspired by piece on playground shooting

THAT WAS a beautiful piece by Jonathan D. Josey III on the police shooting of Vincent Parsons.

Props to him! I feel like he spoke for many of us.

Let's not condone the activities of adult criminals who try to break the long arm of the law.

Let's not dismiss police misconduct, but let's not extinguish our collective faith in the boys in blue - 'cause who do you call first when something bad happens? (It is not the Ghostbusters.)

There's a sentiment out there - "The hell with the cops!" But every person with a dollop of common sense knows that attitude is a precursor to anarchy. Maybe "the hell with the corrupt cops!" is better.

Or maybe, "The hell with myself for being a criminal!" I guess you'll never hear that.

Why wasn't Parsons enjoying that nice day with his children instead of playing cops and robbers? What if he'd shot one of the children in the playground? I guess some of us would have found a way to blame the cops, right? That's mindlessly silly.

By the way, giving police a "foot pursuit" policy is like telling Lebron James he isn't allowed to dunk.

Wow, that's a fabulous idea: Let's unnecessarily impede the effectiveness of an officer in order to better protect the well-being of a reckless, violent community-destroyer.

Let's never forget we're all in this together. It's US who make our lives, our families, our neighborhoods, our city . . . great!

B. Garbriel Brogden, Philadelphia