Letters: Phila. police should fight crime, not each other
Re: "Domelights threats being investigated," Friday: My father, Lloyd Gittens, is probably rolling in his grave. He was a well-known member of the New York Police Department. He worked more than 30 years at the same station - the 41st Precinct in the South Bronx - working his way from street officer to desk lieutenant, and giving it its famous nickname: Fort Apache.
Re: "Domelights threats being investigated," Friday:
My father, Lloyd Gittens, is probably rolling in his grave.
He was a well-known member of the New York Police Department. He worked more than 30 years at the same station - the 41st Precinct in the South Bronx - working his way from street officer to desk lieutenant, and giving it its famous nickname: Fort Apache.
I know that my father saw some things that would shock and scare the members of the Philadelphia Police Department. In fact, I do believe that if any of those officers had to spend one day at the 41st Precinct in the late '60s or early '70s, he never would have become a police officer. I also know that the men (and a few women at that time) whom he worked with stood beside one another regardless of skin color, ethnic background, or religious beliefs. They were there to fight crime, not each other.
The Philadelphia police responsible for the offensive Domelights comments need to remember that they graduated from high school years ago, so they should stop acting like teenagers. They are giving the department a bad name. If the people living in Philadelphia don't respect them, how is the department going to help the city?
Perhaps we should tell those members of the department that they should be happy that stupidity isn't a crime in Pennsylvania, because if it were, they'd all be serving life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Julie Gittens
Parkesburg