Police Are Treated Differently

RECEIVED Wed., March 5, 2008

Dear Editor,
    If you or I were to kill an unarmed man, and openly admit to it, we would receive at least 20 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or possibly the death penalty.
    But when former Austin Police Department Officer Michael Olsen admits to this, he loses his job (and probably gets benefits and unemployment along with it) [“Panel Upholds Olsen Firing, but Case Doesn't End Here,” News, March 7].
    Why do people have no trust in the police? Because they can kill you and then just get shipped off to another county or state to be rehired and do it again.
    Olsen deserves to pay for his crime what any ordinary citizen would have to pay. I'm against the death penalty, but maybe executing a few killer cops would send a message to other cops who kill hundreds of American citizens a year that there is a price to pay.
Sincerely,
Skot Oh
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