In a letter to the editor Aug. 11, “Policing isn’t the same as combat,” Rachel Myers Healy criticized the Sun Journal’s favorable stance on the Lewiston Police Department accepting surplus military equipment. “Tools of war belong in combat theaters, not in our neighborhood,” she wrote.

Really? In neighborhoods and cities throughout the U.S., the type of violence being committed mirrors Kabul and Baghdad. When you look at the body count/murders in many cities, it becomes difficult to distinguish between terrorists’ violence and gang activity.

Police departments are currently engaged in a war in many cities throughout this country. They face an underclass that is well armed and has no respect for the lives or property of the public, let alone police officers. How does ambushing police officers or greeting them with automatic rifle fire differ from war?

In many major cities, hardworking middle class minorities are held captive in their homes. Like war, the gangs/enemy always seem to control the night. Worse, many liberals excuse their behavior by labeling those thugs as victims of society.

The city of Lewiston will continue to add any military surplus that is felt needed to ensure the safety of our citizens.

Force will be met with greater force. That’s the Lewiston way.

Robert Macdonald, mayor of Lewiston

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