
October 24

Officer Acted Lawfully; Suspect Did Not

A law enforcement officer's job is full of unknowns and can carry deadly consequences for their actions or inactions affecting the citizens of the society he or she serves and themselves. Police officers take an oath to protect and defend and are given powers of arrest on behalf of society.

Connecticut's laws require a person to submit to an arrest even if he or she believes (and it's ultimately determined) that the arrest is illegal. The officer can use the amount of force necessary to accomplish the arrest. The adjudication of the arrest lies within the courts.

Law enforcement officers would rather people not fight, stab, punch, run, kick, bite, spit, bat, struggle or shoot, but submit peacefully. People who assault police officers deserve what their illegal actions produce.

Law enforcement officers are not paid to be assaulted, maimed, killed or injured in the performance of of their duties. Society demands they protect us and society should support its law enforcement officers. The recent actions of a suspect in Ferguson, Mo. resulted in his death. If the accused had acted lawfully as civil society demands, then the law enforcement officer would not have had to take the action he did. The officer acted within the law enacted by society. Tragically, the deceased did not.

Robert Kowalczyk, Vernon

The writer is a retired state trooper and a former head of the state police union.

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