POLICE: Pitfalls of all profiling

Former Kootenai County Undersheriff Tad Leach shared this open letter with The Press:

Dear Mayor de Blasio,

I am a white retired law enforcement officer from the suburbs of Chicago. I too gave my children a talk about police. I told my three boys and daughter, a minority I may add, that if they deal with police to treat them with the respect they deserve, do what they tell you, and take responsibility for your actions. If they don’t think the ticket or treatment they receive was appropriate, they have other resources available other than to try and “hold court” in the street. I also taught them that if they used my name or position they would suffer the consequences. Unfortunately, I also had to teach them that just because a friend and fellow officer on my department and another officer I worked with in a neighboring department were murdered by black men, did not mean that all black men were murderers — far from it. The sad fact is that blacks murder a disproportionate number of law enforcement officers. I also told my children that they should do what Martin Luther King said and judge people by the content of their character and not the color of their skin (or uniform).

I would suggest that you have overlooked two very important things when speaking publicly about police and interactions with the black community:

1. Blue lives matter!

2. People should stop occupation profiling (it amazes me how some people who insist police officers profile, profile the police — including you and many in the media).

Thank you for your consideration.

TAD LEACH

Chief of Police (Retired)

Lincolnwood, Ill.

Current residence: Coeur d’Alene