EDITOR: Frankly, I'm disappointed. I had hoped for more from Chief David Krauss of the Tracy Police Department. If not an outright apology, I think at least an acknowledgement is in order. In the letter to the Editor submitted by my wife and myself, and published in the Tracy Press, March 11, it was made painfully obvious that the police used poor judgment on March 7, when three police cruisers chased a suspect at unsafe speeds through the streets of our neighborhood as elementary school was letting out.
First of all, there are only three ways in and out of this development, one of which isn't even paved. It would seem to me that a more appropriate and certainly a safer response would be to monitor those exits, rather than all three traveling in succession through our streets and by our homes, school, and children, at an unacceptable rate of speed.
Secondly, as raised in the referenced letter, the suspects were wanted for previous warrants – they weren't doing anything that would threaten our safety at the time the police started chasing them. Should the number one priority of the police be to catch bad guys, or should it be to protect citizens from those who would do us harm?
The silence from Chief Krauss could be interpreted as characterizing a mindset similar to that portrayed by Ray Liotta in the movie John Q., in which he plays a Police Captain hell-bent on sniping the bad guy, ignoring the safety of civilians. When another police officer remarked that there were innocent civilians that might get hurt, Liotta's character responded, "They'd better keep their heads down."
I hope that Chief Krauss and all of the police officers of the Tracy Police Department think again next time a similar situation arises. If they don't, you can be sure I'll have more to say on the subject.
Daniel Wells
Tracy