Bob Simons: Don’t paint all with the same brush of bias
Re “Mercedians protest police killings of blacks” (Page A2, Dec. 15): Part of one’s college education teaches the student the importance and necessity of research and to form opinions based on the best information. Monday’s Sun-Star printed an article and photo of a local protest relating to the attitudes of the police toward the black community.
Examples of these beliefs used examples from black individuals from Ferguson, Mo., and New York City who died at the hands of white police officers. I’m sure that in some cases bias exists. I’m convinced that if these protesters want to convince others of this bias that examples being cited show law-abiding citizens being mistreated.
In addition, the biases that are demonstrated by the illegal actions of people burning, looting and assaulting other community members is totally wrong. There exists bias of officers toward other races also. This is an issue of professionalism and those offices who demonstrate bias need to be educated or forced to find another way to make a living. Including all police officers in the discussion of bias is incorrect.
Bob Simons, Merced
This story was originally published December 16, 2014 at 12:34 PM with the headline "Bob Simons: Don’t paint all with the same brush of bias."