Reason #26 for Why It's Good to Read Op-Eds

The Portland Press Herald reported yesterday that a 39-year-old man from Portland was tasered by Westbrook Police on Spring Street Friday night.

Judging from the facts contained in the Press Herald dispatch (here), I suspect the tasered man neglected to read Westbrook Police Chief Bill Baker's op-ed piece (here) from the January 10 edition of that paper. Otherwise, he would've adhered to Baker's three tips for avoiding confrontation with the Westbrook Police.

Just shows you that it is occasionally worth it to wade through the op-eds in the morning. At the very least, you'll learn how to avoid being tasered. Bro.

- John C.L. Morgan

Police Chief Writes Op-Ed

Westbrook Police Chief William Baker wrote an op-ed in this morning's Portland Press Herald in which he provides "[a]nother view of confrontations with police."

In his piece, Chief Baker describes a peaceful resolution to a confrontation Westbrook Police had with a deranged man on January 1 and says that such resolutions are much more common than violent ones. The chief also predicts "all police use of force could be eliminiated in this state if three things happened: If citizens obeyed the law; if people simply submitted when the police tried to take them in to custody; and when weapons, or the threat of weapons, were eliminated from interpersonal conflict." The op-ed can be read in its entirety here.

- John C.L. Morgan