Letters: A cop’s reality

Re “Coroner, police differ over death,” Nov. 29

While only someone at the scene knows what truly happened to cause the death of Robert Ramirez in Oxnard, perhaps the experience of a 38-year police veteran, now retired, may lend some perspective.

Subduing an unhinged subject without causing permanent injury is never an easy task; it is much more difficult when that individual is under the influence of a drug and seems oblivious to pain. Additionally, officers must do so without getting themselves seriously hurt so they can return home after their shift ends. This situation could have been totally avoided if Ramirez hadn’t taken drugs.

This tragedy is typical of a no-win situation that emergency personnel, especially police officers, face frequently, usually with more positive outcomes — which the public rarely hears about.

Robert Curtis

Los Angeles

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