VANDALISM: This is protect, serve?

What makes our Police, those who were hired to "protect and serve," feel that they are above the law? When civilians or our property are abused, what can we do as citizens to bring those into accountability to the law they are sworn to uphold? On May 4, 2010 I was visiting the Fernan Rod & Gun Club with a friend of mine when we ran headlong into a joint CDAPD / KCSO live fire exercise. I am a life-member at Fernan Rod & Gun Club and have helped build this range over the past 15 years.

What made this police exercise especially odd was that I saw all of my gun club's wooden props, vision barriers, steel, and plastic 55-gallon drums being used without our permission. Our storage container is clearly marked PROPERTY OF SPPL and has my name, my phone number, and our website address on an 18" x 24" sign on the container.

Nobody had called us and we have known for years that these agencies had been using and abusing this property but nobody had caught them "red handed" until me on May 4, 2010. Their exercises with live gunfire had created a considerable amount of damages, which I had taken pictures of, walking around this site, with the officer in charge. Now what adds insult to injury is that five emails later, and with the earlier promise of CDAPD taking care of this, that still nothing has been done and there is still no accountability of these actions.

The SPPL, Inc. officers had requested an apology, a promise not to use any of our props again, and to pay $250 for damages. I am writing this letter to the editor rather than filing charges for vandalism and using others property without permission (theft). I am hopeful that by reading this in the editorial section, someone in these agencies will take responsibility before SPPL, Inc. will have no other choice but to file charges against both agencies and take this to court.

BILL SAHLBERG

SPPL, Inc.

Sec/ Treas