Sahra Ahmed’s recent letter about police training has some validity, but it offers a one-sided view of the problem (“Police officers need training in how to avoid use of force,” May 12).

She seems to suggest that “unarmed” means “not dangerous,” and that is not the case. She also ignores the fact that Michael Brown had committed a strong-arm robbery just before his encounter with Officer Darren Wilson.

Brown refused the lawful order of the officer to get out of the road, then followed that by an attack on the officer. Should the officer have sat there and allowed himself to be beaten?

Eric Garner, who had a criminal record, also refused to obey the lawful orders of the police and instead chose to resist arrest and fight. His decisions and health killed him, not the officers’ actions. If you can talk, you are not being choked.

The majority of people in the black community are good, decent, law-abiding people, and they need to help the police locate and charge those who are not.

Sure, police training needs to be addressed, but so does the behavior and attitude of many in the community. If you want good relations with law enforcement, obey the law.

According to federal researchers, there were 950 police shootings in 2014. This represents involvement by less than 1 percent of all police officers in the U.S. – but way too many people want to condemn all police officers for doing a terribly difficult job while ignoring the behavior of some community members in the process.

Gary Phillips

Wells