To the Editor:

I was under the impression that the editor of this paper actually read all material before publishing it in the Citizen!

If this is indeed the case, how is it that a letter bashing the police, segregating one area of this city as crime infested, as well as condoning a reckless driver's actions slip through the proverbial cracks?

According to her letter to the editor, Leah Watkins would have us believe that the recent stabbings that occurred over the Nickel Days weekend, may have been prevented had the police not been ticketing her "friend" (who was breaking the law by the way), if they would only stay out of "... an area where there is usually very little crime..." is laughable at best. What would Watkins views have been had her friend ran a child over by failing to stop at a posted stop sign? That was a very real possibility as clearly this friend was not paying attention to their surroundings, else they would have seen a police car "... hanging out at a corner in Westwood, to try and nail people for simple tickets...."

Miss Watkins furthers this belief of hers with"... would it not be wiser to sit at a corner in Eastwood, than ding people for tickets and perhaps catch one of these stabbings that were happening…."

The last time I checked, the police do not have a can of sixth sense hanging from their utility belts telling them where violence is about to erupt, and if they did I doubt that the police car would have fit onto the elevator of Princeton Tower South where three of these stabbings allegedly occurred.

"...I don't think being in one of the better areas of town is going to help with all this crime..." has me very concerned for Watkins; should the police listen and follow this sage advice and not patrol the Westwood area, I fear what may happen should crime decide to climb that ivory tower she lives in and no one respond to her calls of distress.

This letter you decided to publish, was nothing short of a slap in the face for anyone living in Thompson, but unlucky enough not to live in the crime-free paradise of the Westwood area!

I have lived in this city for over 30 years and have yet to see this utopian haven that Watkins describes.

Crime and violence does not discriminate, nor is it area specific, as Watkins would have us believe.

I would suggest that some people take off the rose-coloured glasses and see the fact that crime exists in all areas of Thompson and not just in the Eastwood area. I would further suggest that the next time a letter such as the one Miss Watkins submitted, crosses the editor's desk, it be edited for content and not be used for filler.

I fully expect that this rebuttal will go unpublished, but only time will tell. However, I could not in good conscience read what Watkins wrote and not comment on the absurdity that she would have us all believe.

Tony Ricketts
Thompson