May 22: The police and information

By Published by The Editorial Board

Published: May 22, 2008

Where are the police now that the media are gone?

To the editor:
About a month ago, there was a tragedy in my community. It was the murder of a young black man. It was reported in the newspapers and on television. Everyone wanted to know what happened.
The question was how something like this could happen in a community park in the afternoon. Also, people wanted to know what could be done so this would not happen again.
Many ideas and suggestions were made. One of my neighbors even went to Danville City Council to make an appeal for help. I was interviewed by two television stations about my concerns. It was mentioned that there would be more police patrols — and even some foot patrols. Public Works would clean the park more often to make it more environmentally friendly.
When this tragedy first happened, I couldn’t walk outside for a minute without seeing a police car cruising through the neighborhood. Since then, I haven’t seen one policeman walking through the neighborhood. When the television crews were in the park, they would make sure they were seen cruising by, but now, what’s going on? It is back to business as usual — until the next time something happens.
I made a statement when I was interviewed by one of the television stations that this tragedy will soon be forgotten, that this will be another unsolved murder of a young black man shot down in the park.
I am a taxpayer and a registered voter. I voted in the last City Council election. I hope our new elected council members will not turn a deaf ear to one crying in the wilderness.

BRENDA HARRINGTON
Danville

To the editor:
I was reading restaurant inspection reports in the Sunday paper (May 18, page B5). But there were only four restaurants mentioned. A lot of people, like myself, eat at restaurants in the Danville area. I think everyone deserves to know how clean their favorite restaurant is.
The ones that get the most business were not even mentioned, like the big chain fast food restaurants. I eat at these restaurants often, and I would like to know how clean they are, as I am sure a lot of people would. Restaurant cleanliness is very important, but none of the popular ones were mentioned in the inspection report.
Can we know a little more about the restaurants that we all eat at? I would like to know how a restaurant is handling my food.

SARAH ELIZABETH YOUNGER
Callands
Editor’s note: The restaurant inspections published in the newspaper are only the most recent ones conducted by the Pittsylvania-Danville Health District. A complete list of past inspections for every local restaurant is available at http://www.vdh.state.va.us/