Letter to the editor: Concerned about police treatment of women

Regarding the article “DA: Police justified in killing man who ambushed Brackenridge Chief Justin McIntire” (Feb. 24, TribLIVE): When District Attorney Steven Zappala said “there’s too much violence in the community and they are directing it toward the police,” his words were the truth for the dangers a police officer faces each day. Chief Justin McIntire’s killing was shocking.

But there is another resounding chorus I hear when I talk to women, especially older women, when they call the police regarding their own safety. They are often treated with suspicion and victim-shamed, spoken to aggressively, spoken to as if they are not innocent, and the tables are often turned on them. At the very least, these officers often reply robotically, always “yes ma’am-ing” them, escalating their concerns. Even a robot would be more patient and professional.

Women are beginning to own the majority of the homes in the Alle-Kiski area, are taxpayers, and overwhelmingly law-abiding. They are often semi-retired, and sometimes living alone. They need to trust the police, not worry whether police culture is on the verge of merging with a supremacist culture (with terms like “anti-woke”) that is already out of control. Life sometimes seems more dangerous for all the people they are sworn to protect.

Laurie Scheid

New Kensington