LETTERS ALL EDITIONS

• Published in: Newsday
• Main Authors: Rick Hinshaw. Manhattan. Editor's Note: The writer is director of communications for the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, Mays Freeport, Robert W, Janet Rudolph. Woodmere, Seth Armus. Patchogue, Mary B. Schwabe. Huntington Station, J.
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Long Island, N.Y Newsday LLC 03.03.1999
• Edition: Combined editions

Your editorial, while outlining some of the contentious issues facing the Church on Long Island, welcomed Bishop McHugh's leadership in articulating the Catholic viewpoint. As you made clear, by being a staunch and learned advocate for the teachings of the church, the new bishop will make a vital contribution to the ongoing deliberations on the critical moral and social issues of our time. Rick Hinshaw. Manhattan. Editor's Note: The writer is director of communications for the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. The editorial in opposition to a residency rule for New York City police officers was hypocritical and insensitive {"City Needs Minority Cops, Not a Residency Rule," Viewpoints, Feb. 25}. The minority you refer to are not minorities at all, but represent the majority of city residents. Nassau County, along with most other local municipalities, has for years had the same residency policy that many in New York City support, a fact that you forgot to mention. Historically, the likely target of brutal or lethal police action will not be you or yours: It will likely be a person of color. Much more needs to be done to reign in police officers whose very culture has long been both racist and sexist. In addition to a residency requirement, which admittedly is not a panacea but will help in making the police force more representative of the diverse populace it serves, another equally troubling provision that should be eliminated is the "48-hour rule." This is not a law but a Police Benevolent Associaton contract provision that keeps supervisors from questioning officers for 48 hours or longer following a work-related incident. All too often it has been abused by police officers after a police shooting or even a police killing. In the recent Amadou Diallo police killing in the Bronx more than one week passed before a limited story came from the offending officers. This intervening time has often been used to intimidate witnesses, lose evidence, avoid drug and alcohol testing and concoct a plausible story. Robert W. Mays. Freeport.