Editorial Asked
Right Question

Thank you for writing from the heart, dispassionately and succinctly, on last week's editorial page, about the tragic deaths of Robert Woodward, Randy Wiggin, and Joseph Fortunati, each shot and killed in Vermont by police officers.

Thank you for asking, "What could have been done better?" and also for pointing out that, in these cases, the only satisfactory result would have been crisis resolution without bloodshed.

My sad reflection is that "when the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem will look like a nail." Developing and providing trainings to ensure that police officers command an array of non- lethal "tools" could take time, not to mention resolve, throughout Vermont state government. Meantime, how is it that police officers called to scenes of distress do not carry tasers, the much-ballyhooed "stun guns" that instantly disable—but, we are told, do not permanently injure, or kill?

Beth Champagne