Police hurt enjoyment of AFAD

Dear editor:

We have been enjoying the Air Force Appreciation Day parade in front of the Sunset Sports Bar for many years.

This year's traditions and enjoyment were hampered by a lack of courtesy and common sense, from one of our own city employees. A police officer should work with the citizens and businesses of the city and not try to intimidate them to show his importance or power.

I am not a lawyer and do not claim to know the law, but I know there is a right way and a wrong way to handle any situation. If we were breaking the law Saturday by drinking in the Sunset parking lot, then we have been breaking the law at every AFAD parade for the last 20 years.

It doesn't matter if the police department changed their interpretation of the law or just decided that they would start enforcement of it, but threatening citizens and the business owners on the day of the parade was not the best option available. Letting the owners of the Sunset Sports Bar know in advance and working with them, would have been a much better alternative.

I hope that the officer and his superiors will use a little courtesy and common sense in the future. The people of this town should not be treated with disrespect by the people they employ.

Allen L. Wenger