Police and Race: A Time of Tension

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/19/opinion/police-and-race-a-time-of-tension.html

Version 0 of 1.

To the Editor:

Re “Attack on Officers Jolts a Nation on Edge” (front page, July 18):

The murders of police officers in Baton Rouge and Dallas are beyond tragic. But they also put the lie to one of the main rationales behind opposition to gun control: The best way to stop bad guys with guns is good guys with guns.

The murdered police officers all had guns and were still defenseless victims of bad guys with access to and possession of high-powered weapons. How many more police officers, schoolchildren and others have to be gunned down before things change?

SHELLY B. KULWIN

Chicago

To the Editor:

Both shooters of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge had been soldiers. We need to address the fact that these men may have been damaged by their war experience. Post-traumatic stress syndrome, left untreated, leaves broken men to do desperate and sometimes despicable acts.

ROBIN WIEDER

Brooklyn

To the Editor:

I would not wish away our 24-hour news coverage, social media, the internet or our cellphone cameras, but together they have created an atmosphere in which an irrational actor can more easily achieve his dreams.

Anyone who is lonely and depressed, possibly mentally ill, or simply overwhelmed by frustration or overcome by rage can arm himself and become, at least for a time, the center of national attention. Whether such a person sees himself as a vigilante, a freedom fighter, a religious warrior or some sort of comic book avenging superhero, the chance to realize his fantasies has never been easier.

I wish I could offer a solution to this problem. I fear we will be dealing with it for a long time to come.

BRUCE HALL

Pacifica, Calif.

To the Editor:

I would like to see police officers around the country marching alongside, rather than policing, protesters in the Black Lives Matter movement. Officers would be saying, “We have the same goals.” Protesters would be saying, “You can’t shoot them without shooting us.” A national conversation.

NANCY WEBB

Madison, Wis.

To the Editor:

“Driver Killed by Officer Had Trail of Tickets” (front page, July 17) mentions that Philando Castile needed his car to drive to work in St. Paul, a city with limited public transportation, and that he received many tickets for driving without insurance. The article makes an important point that many low-wage earners need to drive to work, but cannot afford the insurance premium. This leads to driving without insurance, and a spiraling economic burden when they are caught and fined.

Governments should consider subsidizing automobile insurance for low-income people who drive to work, just as it subsidizes health insurance premiums.

RAMASWAMY VISWANATHAN

New Hyde Park, N.Y.