The Brunswick Police are to be commended for the manner in which they responded to and arrested two men who had threatened a couple recently.

The police do have to make decisions, often quickly, about how to handle dangerous situations but how easily this one could have been handled differently and potentially more dangerously. The officer wisely waited for backup then apprehended the two men without creating a situation that could have easily escalated.

I hope that this situation exemplifies a conscious plan to handle policing situations in the safest manner possible. It seems as if in some police departments the expectation is to go macho first and safety for all second.

Brian Hirst Harpswell