Settlements for missteps should hit Denver police pensions
Re: “Jury awards $3.76M to woman, 78, over SWAT raid of home,” March 5 news story
Once again Denver police have cost the city and county a staggering sum of money with their heavy-handed tactics. The raid on the home of Ruby Johnson, 77-years-old at the time left the house trashed and unnecessarily damaged and deeply impacted Johnson, will cost Denver taxpayers $3.76 million.
In recent years, other police actions have resulted in other large jury awards and settlements. Beyond more training for police officers, perhaps awards would become rare if, in part, they were paid from the future pensions of those who instigated the raid.
Douglas D. Hawk, Denver
Biden’s wisdom in not naming his “predecessor”
I watched the State of the Union and was happy to hear President Joe Biden refer to the former president as my predecessor vs. naming him by name. My late father was a longtime elected official in Jefferson County, and I remember the best advice he received was to never mention your political opponent’s name. He lived by that advice for the 19 years he served as an elected official.
Also of note was the line about finding out about the power of women’s voting in this election. I find it interesting that men are making health care decisions for women in the U.S., i.e., what birth control is available, health care choices, what insurance will cover. No one ever seems to take away or limit men’s access and insurance coverage for the little blue pills. Take away our health care rights and hear us roar!
Cheryl Brungardt, Wheat Ridge
End Daylight Saving Time or at least move it back to April
Starting Monday, when we “spring forward” for Daylight Saving Time (DST), millions of teens, children, parents and others will forfeit an hour of sleep and rush off to school, daycare and work in the dark.
While it is convenient to have additional daylight in the evening, it is a nightmare for those who are forced to give up day light they desperately need in the morning.
U.S. Congress did a disservice to many Americans when it moved the onset of DST from April into early March in 2007. In one flawed section of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Congress took away our morning daylight too early in the season, well before summer brings morning daylight to spare. Congress wanted to see if that would save power. Studies showed that it did not.
The price we pay for DST in March (and any winter month) is too high. The mental health of our nation is already at risk. School violence and mental health crises increase with sleep deprivation. Sleep-deprived drivers make highways more dangerous.
Congress should rescind Section 110 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Alternatively, we could decide to get rid of DST completely as many other countries have done.
What we must never do is force year-round DST on everyone. There is a movement to make DST year-round. Every time that’s been tried, it has been a disaster. The health consequences to vulnerable people should be considered, and right now is a good time to consider it.
Patricia Werner, Castle Pines
DIA can use TSA resources better
Re: “Get to the bottom of these long lines at DIA,” Feb. 21 letter to the editor
To paraphrase your reader, the root cause of unnecessarily long TSA security lines must be unearthed. I was recently in a long TSA line while TSA PreCheck and Clear lines were non-existent. Why? Because there were three TSA agents checking IDs in the long general public passenger lines, while at the TSA PreCheck and Clear passenger entrances, IDs were being checked by five TSA agents, who were often sitting idly as they waited for the next passengers.
I asked a TSA agent why, in the world, someone wasn’t managing the workload and passenger flow. The TSA agent said they were following directives from the airport management to favor PreCheck and Clear passengers, and there was nothing they could do about it.
It’s one thing to keep the favored lines moving faster, but it’s negligent to be totally irresponsible and inefficient in the extreme, as to how that is managed, while intentionally and so blatantly neglecting the needs of general public passengers. It appears to be a no-brainer that could be solved by having one airport employee or TSA agent monitor the passenger flow and routinely make sensible, appropriate, and effective adjustments.
Skip Grieser, Aurora