PAGE 2, TIURSDAY, JUNE 21,1973, WHITBY FREE PRESS Edit orial Comniment Police brutality has been the subject of many discuss- ions, editorials and sensational stories over the years and there appears to be little chance that history is not going to repeat itself. The very role that the Police play in our society is far from conducive to warm and friendly relations in the performance of their duty. When was the last tire you were stopped for sp.eeding and as the .officer did his duty by giving you a ticket you said "thank you very much officer! I really appreciate you giving me a ticket. Why don't you drop by my house for a coffee sometime?" Well, you know and I know that this just isn't the way the average person reacts. It would be more likely to assume that in most cases the guilty party is busy pleading, whining, threatening, or profaning the fellow in blue, who is also a human being, also in most cases a member of the community, also a car owner and taxpayer, who is merely trying to do his job and save lives. Very few people, regardless of social and financial status would put up with the abuse the average police- man has to try and accept as part of his job. Very few people have to live in fear that they might be beaten to a pulp by a bunch of rowdies at the turn of a back, or that the fellow you just stopped to give a lousy ten dollar speeding ticket to might be waiting inside his car with a gun to blow your bead off. Most policemeni, like other members of the community, have wives, children and loved ones. They like to live a normal life, do normal things and interact with people in a normal manner. But where the crunch comes, where the policeman's role may lose the proper perspective is if the officer is affected by his environment. A policeman can be compar- ed to a Bailiff whose only business dealings are with people he is serving writs to or repossessing their belong- ings. Or possibly he may be compared with a finance employee who might spend 10% of his time lending money and the other 90% collecting it. Definitely not the best situations for friendly relations, but even worse, if the community can generally be divided into "good guys" and "bad guys", the "bad guys" are mostly the ones these people are "doing business" with day in and day out. Psycbologists have long talked about "environmental development" in the forming of one's personality. Isn't it possible, even probable that if a person lives with animals long enough he may start acting like an animal? I don't want to imply that people who run afoul of our laws are animals, sometimes far from it. Nor do I want to imply that I'm offering this as an excuse for "Police Brutality," because there is no excuse. But I think before we join the latest protest movement we should assess the WHOLE situation, still keeping in mind that none of us are perfect and that there is good AND bad in ALL groups regardless of which side of the fence we are on. Hence it is our moral responsibility to sort out the bad apples in our own barrels before we start inspecting other people's. Dear Sir; Dear Sir: Re: A Taxpayer of Whitby. In response to an article' by Taxpayer, June 7th, as he didn't have courage en- ough to mention his name and I don't blame him, I would like to say this. Here is a person who is already to judge and condemn a yo- ung man who had not yet come to trial and took his own life or was supposed to have done so as there was a lot of minds aroused over the circumstances inv- olved in this case, and dear Taxpayer said he feels no remorse as it is about high time the law clamped down on such degenerates and that society is not strict enough with the drunks, freaks and mental cases as he says their troubles are brought o n by themselves. Isn't this a cal- loused type of attitude to have towards someone he doesn't even know and pos- sibly could have been this persons first offence. There is such a thing as giving a person a second chance. This would be one terrible society to live in if we all had the attitude towards our law-br- eakers and mentally ili that Taxpayer has. Obviously he belongs somewhere in these categories himself. As for being 100% behind our Po- lice force 1 think there is sornething to be said there also, but I do think the majority of our Police Force consist of some very fine people. I am only sorry for the boy's family.to have to read such a disgusting article and my sympathy is with them. Sincerely, Mrs. Mabel Willets, 1010 Wardman Cres, Whitby, Ont. of the many problems creat- ed by their bureaurcratic bu- ngling. I hope for the sake of the expropriated that the government really means wh- at it says for a change. With the release of the comminque from Mr. Dube, Minister of Works, the time has come to comment on the lack of credibility of the two departments involved in Air- port I1. There have been many such statements from the government before but most have failed to materia- lize. The Pickering North Lib- eral Association of which I am President vowed more than a year ago to assist in every way possible our friends and neighbours. Af- ter spending hours with site officiais, it was quickly evi- dent to us that those who live here were dead last on on the priority list. The lack of information, buck- passing, broken promises, in- difference, and the evasive tactics, prompted us to go right to the top with these cômplaints. Our comments, recommendations, and warn- ings of impending trouble were many and constructive in nature. These fell on deaf ears for we were largely ignored, and in my opinion, our efforts have failed. Local M.P. Norm Cafik is constantly put in a posit- ion of bailing Airport offic- ials out of one blunder after another. A recent example is the expropriation offers which were so low as to be an insult. The explosive situation resulting from their release completely escaped the Dept. of Works. Our M.P. was forced to call a panic meeting himself to ca- lm the people. After being a witness to the incredible ineptitude on the part of airport officiais for over a year, I would conclude they don't know where they are going or how to get there. The announcement Tues- day is the first small step by Public Work to solve one President North Pickering Liberal Association. Ken Spratley 655-4518 Gentlemen: On behalf of the parents of the Ajax, Pickering and Whitby Association for the Mentally Retarded, I wish to express our thanks to you for advertising our Easter Eg- gstravaganza held on April 22, 1973. With al proceeds in, ap- proximately $3.000. for our Nursery School in Whitby, this benefit can certainly be classified a great success. May I extend our deepest appreciation to your staff for their time and enthusiasm given to aid our children. Sincerely yours, Nursery School Committee Mrs. Noreen Masters. Gentlemen: Last summer we were fort- unate enough to raise $50. for the Crippled Children's School and Treatment Cen- tre, with our play "Tom Sawyer." This play involved twenty-five neighbourhood c- hildren who were willing to put in their time and effort to raising money for this worthy cause. The children also benefited from the little bit of theatrical experience they received. This summer I am direct- ing another play which I hope will be every bit as successful, and contribute m- uch more to the cause. The play is calied "The Chairs" by Eugene lonesco. It is not the usual straight-forwa- rd play, but comes from the Theatre of the Absurd. It centres around two very old people who live all alone in a light-house. The Old Man is desperately searching for Readersw-rite ing the library for the first time obtain their cards at the library before the park visits begin. Schedules will be posted at the library. The Summ'er Reading Pro- gram will get underway again in July. The theme this year is "Read-Pass it on." Once again the children reg- J istering for the program will be required to read at least six books and hand in writ- ten reports. Upon comple. tion of this they will . be elegible for a certificate to be awarded at the end of the summer. Rules and book lists wiil be available in the library after the first of July. THIS WEEK from Ottawa some meaning in his life before he dies. The Old Woman is played by Kathy Dewey, and the Old Man is played by Terry Le Blanc. Both these people have been very active members of the Whitby Theatre Company. Although I have been wo- rking with the Whitby Th- eatre Company since January I am producing this play on my own as I did "Tom Sa- wyer" last summer. The Ontario County Board of E- ducation has been kind eno- ugh to supply Henry Street High School for our prod- uction. The play wilI go on June 22, 8:00 p.m. Ti- ckets will be sold at the door. I have every confidence in the talents of these two people, and am looking for- waird to an entertaining and beneficial evening. Very truly yours, Susan Keys. Whitby Public Library Story Nours As the library will be clo- sed Saturdays from July 7th through September Ist, the Story Hours will be held on Wednesday mornings at 10: 30 during the summer mon- ths. These Wednesday story .hours will begin on July 11th. "Fun and Sun" will bb the theme of the three story hours in July. On Wednes- day July I 1 th they will read Summer Stories and the chi- Idren will make fans to keep cool on those warm summer days. On July 18th they will again have stories ap- propriate to the month and the children will make but- tercup bookmarks. On July 25th nature sto- ries will be in order as the children will be planting se- eds ini miniature containers. The cbildren's library will again be visiting the Whitby Parks tbis summer with pup- pet shows and books. It is suggested that anyone join- JUVENILE CRIME STUDY Solicitor General Warren All- mand launched a national study on the prevention of crime among youth. Six researchers will docu- ment what services now exist to divert young people from crime. The group will produce a report on their findings as weil as recom- mend a national policy on com- batting juvenile delinquency through prevention services, to be presented to the Solicitor General. GANDHI TO VISIT CANADA During her eight-day (June 17- 24) visit to Canada, the Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, will have talks with Prime Minister Trudeau, address a Joint Session of the Senate and the House of Commons, and attend functions in Toronto, Niagara-on- the-Lake, Montreal, Calgary, Banff, Vancouver and Victoria. CANADA-CHINA AIR PACT An air agreement signed be- tween Canada and China, provides for CP Air to operate between Canada, Shanghai and Peking and for a Chinese carrier to operate between China, Vancouver and Ottawa. These flights will be re- stricted to business, trade missions and technical experts. LIBERALS AND PC'S AGREE Liberal Party and Progressive Conservative members agreed in the House of Commons to push for a 200-mile offshore fishing limit at the 1974 Law of the Sea Conference in Chile. This proposai, outtined by Fisheries Minister Jack Davis in St. Andrew's N.B., is an attempt to restrict coastal fishing to Cana- dian fishermen. 1973 CANADA GAMES On June 13, Prime Minister Trudeau initiated the 1973 Canada Games, with the lighting of the Canada Games torch on Parlia- ment Hill. Glenda Reiser, a top Canadian runner, took the torch on the first part of a journey that will cross Canada and conclude at the Games site in Burnaby-New Westminster, B.C. on August 3, opening day of the Games. UNEMPLOYMENT DOWN For the fifth consecutive month the unemployment rate has drop- ped - from 6.7% in December to 5.2%in May - a total decrease of 1.5% since December 1972. This decrease represents 77,000 more jobs for Canadians during May. PROGRAM WELCOMED The federal government's pro- gram to encourage immigrants to obtain their Canadian citizenship was welcomed by Lino Magagna, president of COSTI, an Italian immigrant aid agency in Toron- to - "It's about time. I like every aspect of the plan." The program is directed at some 850, 000 to one million landed immi- grants who have been in Canada more than five years and who are not yet Canadian citizens. LIBERALS-PC'S UP IN POLL A recent Public Opinion Poli shows Federal Party standings in- creased slightly for the Liberals and Conservatives, but decreased for the NDP and other parties. Todav Liberals are at 42% up 2 percentage points from the April PoU. PC's are at 34% up 4 points; the NDP isat 16% down 4 points; while other parties have dropped 2 points to 8% of the popular vote.