APD Losing Credibility

Dear Editor,
    Re: “The KeyPoint Report” [News, May 14]: I am so thankful for people the likes of Jim Harrington and entities like The Austin Chronicle and the Texas Civil Rights Project for bringing issues like this into the spotlight and for the magnificent coverage. I am following this story from out of the country at the moment, but I get the impression that it is not nearly as big a deal for us Austinites as it should be. This is a critical issue – an issue that gets to the heart of what it means to live in a democratic society. The police are supposed to keep us safe, but I find myself increasingly more frightened of the erratic and dangerous actions of our police force than of those we'd normally consider criminals, because of activities like the killing of Nathaniel Sanders II. That is not at all how it should be. The chief of police made an idiotic error in failing to adequately discipline Leonardo Quintana, in seeking the heavy redaction of the report, and in what can only be called intimidation tactics such as threatening to report Mr. Harrington to the state bar. His resignation should be tendered immediately, amongst other repercussions for the Austin Police Department. The APD is rapidly losing what little credibility and respect it had.