Letter to the editor: Columnist wrong about the thin blue line

The “thin blue line” is a term that typically refers to the concept of the police as the line that keeps society from descending into violent chaos.

Ms. Hugo-Vidal’s Dec. 3 column, (“The thin blue line has melted into a puddle”), was a sad, scathing piece of nasty with a mighty large dose of vitriol. It was hard to tell if all that hatred was just aimed at the Lewiston police or every law enforcement in Maine and the U.S. Anger spilled all over every paragraph.

Maine has never experienced anything like the shootings in Lewiston. I can’t begin to imagine the initial shock, horror and disbelief, the magnitude of procedural steps deployed at breakneck speed that had never been deployed before. The coordination of multiple departments and agencies, the confusion, and misdirection, all of those unfortunate missteps that occur in catastrophes. Ms. Hugo-Vidal, however, writes this disturbing article with the benefit of hindsight and using — correctly or incorrectly — “every piece of news that comes out about police actions before and after the shooting.”

I wonder how well Ms. Hugo-Vidal would have done in the heartbreak of that moment? Perhaps redirecting all that anger toward advocating for mental health programs would be more productive than insulting and belittling our enforcement agencies.

I, myself, am grateful for the enforcement agencies. What a difficult career they have, as they routinely bear witness to some of the worst of human behavior. I’m truly upset by the column.

Noreen Davidson
York