Take away the cartoonist's crayons

Recently Newsday printed an editorial cartoon depicting a Nassau County police officer being afraid to go back to the street from a desk job ["Desk duty," March 27]. Well, I was one of those officers who had to work a desk job.

I had three herniated discs in my neck from fighting with a drunk, and required ligament reconstruction in my thumb thanks to a prisoner who didn't want to be handcuffed. I worked the streets and, fortunately, when I no longer could, there was a place for me to go and still be an asset to the department and the citizens of Nassau County.

So much of what is done by the NCPD is done behind the scenes by these dedicated officers. Sending them back to patrol will not save the county money. You will still be paying their salary, and since the work they were doing still must get done, a far less knowledgeable and far less qualified civilian would have to be hired to replace them inside. This would not only cost the county money, but would further reduce the NCPD's ability to serve the community.

I understand that the cartoon was meant to be satirical, but actually the only funny thing about it was that it was drawn by someone who has only ever worked behind a desk and would cry if someone took his crayons away.

Maureen Stewart

Hauppauge

Editor's note: The writer served on the police force for 22 years.