No wonder we don’t believe
Re “It’s awful many Americans think Trump attempted killings staged,” May 16: Ingrid Jacques believes it is awful that many Americans think the various attempts on President Donald Trump’s life were staged.
Unfortunately, she fails to place the blame where it belongs – with leadership.
Like most Americans, I am not close enough to the events to prove that these attempts were real or not. Instead, I need to trust others to faithfully report on the facts.
It should not surprise any of us, then, that when the president and his circle constantly and intentionally undermine trust in professional journalism, many people end up with their wires crossed.
There have always been many voices claiming to know the truth.
What is new is leadership that is actively engaged in tearing down the institutions that give us the best chance we have at knowing what is real.
So people don’t believe that Trump is being honest about these assassination attempts? Big surprise.
Tim Hopmann, Bexley
Good cop, bad cop math
Often, I hear that 99% of police officers are “good cops.” If I accept this number, it means that 1% are “bad cops.”
The Columbus Police Divison has 1,800 officers. This means that 18 are “bad cops” who should be fired from their jobs every year.
In a decade, 180 “bad cops” should be fired. Over a typical 30-year career, a “good cop” should see 540 colleagues fired for being “bad cops.”
I want to ask Brian Steel, How many bad cops have you seen fired in your career? If I accept that 99% are good cops, have you overly defended hundreds of ‘one-percenters’ who should not be in public service police officer roles?
I just want to verify the math.
Richard Needles, Columbus
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Real reason Americans think Trump attempted killings were staged | Letters
Reporting by Letters to the Editor, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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