Nassau police officer's loss, ICE actions, ticketed for not showing disabled tag

A loss for officer’s family and police

Nassau County police are in mourning. There is a hole in the Fifth Precinct roll call; a sector car sits in the parking lot, its engine cold. The officer assigned to that patrol car, Patricia Espinosa, has been taken from us. Her funeral Mass was celebrated Thursday in Smithtown [“Nassau cop who died in crash to receive full honors at funeral,” News, Feb. 3].

This mother of a 2-year-old child was killed by an intoxicated individual who chose to operate an automobile. Her husband, also a police officer, was minutes behind her, also en route to the same precinct, and was one of the first at the scene.

Espinosa is from a family of police officers, yet more important, we should know she came to this country from Ecuador at age 20, learned English, swore her loyalty to her new country and became a citizen. Her family will suffer her loss for a long time, the department will honor her memory with a plaque in the station house, and the pain will live on.

— James P. Kelly, Huntington

The writer is a retired supervisor of the Nassau County Police Department’s Emergency Ambulance Bureau.

ICE actions prompt various thoughts

We recently received an email from my congressman stating that, regarding recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity and subsequent protests, individuals should not interfere with law enforcement. I and most responsible people, I imagine, would agree with that statement.

The question becomes this: What laws are being enforced when people are illegally racially profiled without probable cause and are ordered to show proof of citizenship? What about breaking car windows and dragging people from their vehicle? Or forcibly entering homes and dragging out residents, who will be spirited off to places unknown without any due process or legal representation?

Many of these actions are being done by masked armed people without identification in unmarked vehicles [“Fear as ICE raids Greenport,” News, Feb. 5]. If the congressman believes what I’ve described adheres to the Constitution, then his interpretation is a danger to his constituents.

— Michael J. Vicchiarelli, Eastport

The Dark Ages’ executioners wore masks, the Ku Klux Klan wore masks, terrorists wore masks, bank robbers wear masks, and on and on. What do they have in common? They wanted to conceal their identities for the illicit tasks they were about to undertake so they would not be held accountable.

Why would ICE agents need masks? They’re sworn to protect the public, yet the masks lead to distrust, intimidation and a lack of transparency regarding the activities that they would legally be undertaking.

If it were truly about their protection, then anyone serving in the public arena, from judges to lawyers to legislators to law enforcement to teachers would merit wearing masks, too. Unfortunately, every day we are all potentially subject to negative and vitriolic public feedback. Transparency is something we desperately need to preserve as a cornerstone of our democracy.

— Rory Sadoff, Massapequa

I’ve found Hispanic men and women to be among the hardest working people in this country.

In my 40 years in retail, I managed and worked in a heavy-lifting and long-hours environment. Most of my workers were Hispanic and spoke little English. I am of German descent yet found ways to communicate with my crew. A few Spanish words I remembered from my high school Spanish class helped.

For our government to ship out anyone who is not an American citizen is counterproductive to our country’s labor force, which includes workers who help our economy every day in all industries. Gang members and criminals have to leave, yes, and I think almost all Americans feel the same way. But to deport hardworking men and women trying to make a living here is a travesty.

— Charley Frey, West Babylon

Costly: Forgetting to hang my disabled tag

I can attest to an unfair practice perpetrated by Village of the Branch in the Town of Smithtown [“Village and town court revenue soars on LI,” News, Feb. 1]. I am physically disabled. At a visit to a doctor, I forgot to make my disabled tag visible through my car window and received a ticket.

I went to the village court to address this. I was pulled into a small room and confronted by two town attorneys who said I could pay a fine of $113 for forgetting to hang the tag or go to trial where the judge could charge me the full $250 fine. My owning a tag apparently was not considered.

I had just lost my dog, was extremely upset and, because of their intimidation, was crying. The attorneys did not act as if they cared. It seemed that their objective was money.

I resentfully paid the fine, which I deemed truly unjust. I wrote to the court to complain, but that too made little difference.

— Barbara Hansen, Smithtown