Wednesday, July 14, 2021
A4
OPINION
VOICE of the CHIEFTAIN
Abolishing
police is not
the answer
t least at first glance, the
idea that police departments
should be abolished in favor
of other methods of protection seems
so counterintuitive, it’s difficult to
know where to begin.
Yet, a recent survey by the Ore-
gon Values and Beliefs Center
showed a total of 27% of respon-
dents strongly, or somewhat, support
the idea of abolishing their local
police departments.
Instead of police departments,
advocates suggest a system of social
workers, counselors and mental
health experts to fill in the police
role.
The survey, though, also showed
67% of the people polled are against
eradicating police departments. The
polled consisted of responses from
1,400 adult Oregonians.
The issue was front and center
last year during the George Floyd
riots and protests as cases of police
brutality gained closer scrutiny.
And the survey showed a slight
majority of Oregonians back some
type of reduced police funding and
instead favor using the savings to
pay for more public health, educa-
tion and social services.
The results are interesting, but in
the end, abolishment is a bad idea
linked to emotion rather than com-
mon sense.
The 2020 protests did a lot of
damage across the nation, but they
did push the issue of police mis-
cues into the national conversation.
Ultimately, that was a good thing.
In a democratic society, no pub-
lic agency or employee is above the
public’s review.
The George Floyd incident was
a terrible injustice and those who
were responsible — mainly for-
mer Minneapolis Police Department
Officer Derek Chauvin — were dealt
with by the justice system. Chauvin
earned a 22-year prison sentence for
his role in Floyd’s death.
The problem is one of perception.
A single horrendous act by a police
officer somehow filled in as a state-
ment for the entire community of
law enforcement officers during the
summer of 2020 protests.
Typically, police follow the law.
They are not brutal. They are ded-
icated to serving their community
and respecting civil liberties.
The issue isn’t more social work-
ers or mental health specialists —
though they are needed — but better
training and an acknowledgement
that we need police.
Human nature being what it is,
we always will need a force of ded-
icated public servants to safeguard
our homes and property. Should
there be close oversight of our
police? Of course. The public owes
it to itself — and to the men and
women who wear a badge — to be
vigilant about police tactics.
But abolish police departments?
No thanks.
A
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Tourists need to respect
the rules, local residents
It seems tourism may have its limits.
Although we, as those who live in Wal-
lowa County, appreciate those that come
to our beautiful county, shop at our amaz-
ing stores and support the businesses, we
don’t appreciate rude behavior. Those
of us that live here must enjoy the lake
during the same time those from out of
town, come here to enjoy what nature has
to offer, as well as the lake.
Over the Fourth of July weekend, tour-
ism raised its ugly head, as parking at the
North end of the lake became a war zone.
There is a spot, as you pull into the lake,
where a sign says, ‘15 minute parking.’
Most everyone uses that area to prep their
boats to launch into the lake, or unload
picnic items, then move.
However, what we witnessed over
the weekend made a parking problem a
fiasco: someone in the 15 minute-parking
area, a motorhome with its awing out. The
rest of that area clogged with parked cars.
When people tried to ask them to conform
to the rules, they were confronted with a
burst of hate. Absolute total disregard for
not only the rules, but for those around
them.
To come here and enjoy our beautiful
county and the lake does not call for the
rudeness we continue to see.
We live here, and we follow the rules
for a reason. Don’t come here and disre-
spect us.
Doug Dutton
Joseph
Let’s come together and
rebuild our society
It’s amazing to me the depths to which
society has sunk in recent decades. Dis-
course, humanity, civility, respect ...
all societal traits that are withering and
dying, victims of the elimination of a
common social morality. So many are
committed to the idea that each person is
a moral island. Such thinking dissolves
the bonds of a society. Without a com-
mon social morality, we’re all just drift-
ing alone, instinctively clinging to any
whose moral values mirror our own,
transforming society into warring tribes.
It seems when I was a child I might
CONTACT your REPRESENTATIVES
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La Grande office: 541-962-7691
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828
Office: 209 NW First St., Enterprise, Ore.
Phone: 541-426-4567 • Fax: 541-426-3921
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Cliff Bentz
1239 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford office: 541-776-4646
SENATOR
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
EDITORIALS: Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Wallowa County Chieftain editorial board. Other
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office: 541-278-1129
REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR
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900 Court St. NE, S-423
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
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VOLUME 134
see a relationship end, perhaps with
some hard feelings but people would
remain civil toward one another. Now
everything seems to mandatorily
become a melodramatic production and
bitter feud. And now not just in divorce
at the end of a marriage, but at the end
of dating relationships as well. Chil-
dren have studied the bitter divorces of
adults and replicated them in their own
relationships.
Too few remember that the human
being possesses three areas of health in
need of constant maintenance, suste-
nance and care: physical health, mental
health, and spiritual health. If one suf-
fers, it drags the other two down with
it. This used to be common knowledge
taught in health classes. Now children
are instead taught how to procreate with-
out consequence.
The human race needs and desires a
return to civil society. And the only way
this will ever happen is if individuals
become more mindful of their health and
sustain all three areas.
Rebuild.
Mark Elfering
Hermiston
General manager, Jennifer Cooney, jcooney@wallowa.com
Editor, Ronald Bond, rbond@wallowa.com
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