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Dear Editor, I appreciate that there have been opinions expressed in the Sentinel on the topic of the Auburn Freemasons donation to Auburn Police Department for the purchase of Tasers, commonly known as stun guns. Not because I agree with the “opinion piece” written by the “columnist” (Gary Moffat), but because we live in a country that has a constitution allowing freedoms such as free speech, and anyone can espouse their opinion, however misguided. But most would agree that freedom isn’t free, it comes with a costly price; and so my sincere respect and appreciation goes to those who defend our country and our constitution. This includes the law enforcement professionals of our Auburn Police Department, who unselfishly dedicate their service to our community and do a great job doing so!
Are stun guns needed in Auburn law enforcement? Absolutely, just as
much as any place else in America. Just because Auburn is a city
smaller than Los Angeles, Detroit and New York, (and yes, even Chicago)
there is still crime in Auburn. Real criminals live here and pass
through Auburn every day. Imagine how many guns, weapons and illegal
drugs are transported up and down Interstate 80, between Nevada and
California, each day. Believe it or not, those criminals stop off to
buy gas and eat food right here in Auburn. Anyone who has been a victim
of a crime in Auburn can attest that there are criminals here, despite
Auburn being a safe city. Interestingly, the original “opinion
piece” seemed to be denouncing the intentions of the Freemason donation
to the Police Department, while the second opinion piece, also by Gary
Moffat, was more about the ethical use of stun guns in law enforcement.
Further, the statistics I read in the last opinion piece seemed to be
incorrect. According to Amnesty International, there were 160 deaths
attributable to the use of tasers (not 100 as written), and this was
out of 98,000 people the taser was used on. The US Department of
Justice has slightly different statistics and points out that there
were 180 deaths when tasers were used (not 100). A Bureau of Justice
Statistics study shows there were about 45.3 million people 16 years of
age or older who had some contact with the law in 2002. Of these, about
1.3 million were arrested. Of those arrested, only 1% resulted in the
police using or threatening to use force (the study defined force as
including pushing a person, firm grips on the arm, use of chemical
agents, use of baton or use of a firearm). Social.jrank.org states that
on average, for every 100,000 people involved in a criminal act, police
un-holstered their firearms 130 times. They report that the greatest
uses of force were restraint including bodily force accounting for
1,255 out of 100,000 and approximately 100 were the result of some use
of non-lethal actions, while only 5.4 were “Tasered.” Lastly,
since it was mentioned that Masons would be better served donating to a
worthy cause such as the Boys and Girls Club, for the record, the
Masons of Auburn give the use of their Masonic Hall free of charge to
the Boys and Girls Club several days a week for after schools programs.
We are proud to support this and many other worthy organizations. This
includes the brave men and women of the Auburn PD. Ron Lawrence, Freemason, Eureka Lodge 16, Auburn
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