Sandpoint needs its own police department

To dismantle the Sandpoint Police Department because one or two council people have a vendetta against Chief Mark Lockwood is ludicrous and asinine. The handling of this personality conflict by the way of character assassination at City Council meetings and by the way of the press is childish.

The Sandpoint Police Department has excellent response times to their calls like auto accidents, family violence, rape, murder, harassment calls, burglary, bank alarms, juvenile problems that involve tobacco, alcohol and drugs, control substance users and dealers. Daily, they deal with the raw elements of society.

To the community: If you think we don't have raw elements of society living in Sandpoint, then your head is buried in the sand.

Public safety is number one. And I suppose if one of these council people, God forbid, ever had an emergency and needed an officer right away and the response time was more than five minutes (which is probably the response time from the Sheriff's Office to the city), they would be assassinating the county sheriff and deputy that responded.

Here's a challenge to the voting people of this community: Attend the monthly City Council meetings, the third Wednesday of every month at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 1123 Lake St., and experience firsthand some of your locally "voted in" council people in action.

You'll be surprised at the rudeness and un-professionalism in words, actions and body language of a few of these "elected chameleons."

SUE COLACIONE

Sandpoint