No Reason for Suspect’s Death
Re “A Question of Deadly Force,” March 31:
I am a proud veteran of 12 1/2 years on the Chicago Police Department. I resigned 13 years ago to go into private business, but I guarantee you that I have been in almost every situation that a policeman can get into. I saw the video of Hong Il Kim’s capture and death several times and could not believe my eyes. The man was caught. He could go nowhere with his Toyota. The only way he could have threatened the arresting officers would be to hit them with his vehicle.
In the video, the officers were far enough from the front corners of Kim’s vehicle so as not to be hit. If they were afraid of being hit they could have moved a bit farther from the car and still kept their eyes on him and then waited him out. The shooting was unnecessary. Sooner or later he would tire or run out of gas.
These kinds of situations are what brand policemen as “trigger happy.” And as to Jim Charlesworth’s April 7 letter, I say, “too bad you didn’t see the video, then you might know what you are writing about.”
JOHN L. SCHWARTZ
Laguna Hills
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