Shooting Column Was a One-Sided Story

I was disappointed in Dana Parsons’ column of May 9 (“Antonio Is Dead; Has Police Department Credibility Died Too?”).

I don’t know who David Gonzalez is or what his reasons were for making the inflammatory remarks that appeared in the column, but Parsons’ use of them was extraordinarily unfair to the city of Huntington Beach and its Police Department. Is that all it takes to print your paper: walk the halls of any courthouse in the county, easily collect criticism of law enforcement, and flog any police agency with innuendoes?

Anyone familiar with the Oakview area knows the city invests a great deal helping the people who live there. The Police Department spends a significant amount of its budget, time and resources improving the quality of life in that one residential district.

The officers who work the neighborhood have spent years cultivating good relations with the residents and have seen a great deal of success in solving problems in partnership with the community. I wonder what other residents had to say in support of the department or whether they were even asked. If they were, obviously their statements did not make as colorful a splash as did those of this one 20-year-old chosen for print.

The circumstances surrounding the recent police shooting will undoubtedly be well-investigated, and we will have to wait patiently for the findings.

In the meantime, it would be grossly unfair to use that unfortunate incident to create issues that do not exist in order to draw attention to political agendas or sell newspapers. Come on Mr. Parsons, you can do better.

Mike Kelly

Huntington Beach