THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 20, 1995 TAG: 9508170146
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Sympathy for the military, for the police and for higher police pay
In response to the letter ``Military wife to cops: Quit griping'' (Beacon, Aug. 6):
First, no one should be unsympathetic to what military wives endure when their spouses are gone for extended periods of time. However, when a woman has married a military man, did she not know what her husband's career would mean? Did she think it was going to be 9 to 5 every day with weekends and holidays off? Has Dr. Thagard, for whom the writer had little sympathy, been a career astronaut for 19 years or was his recent space station stay the first time he and his family encountered and tried to adapt to this type of assignment?
Second, aren't military dependents provided either low-cost or no-cost health care? Aren't allotments available for housing under certain conditions, with opportunities to live on base at little or no cost? Don't military families have commissary and PX privledes to purchase food and household items at prices that are cheaper than civilian stores? Doesn't the city of Virginia Beach exempt military from paying personal property taxes on their vehicles as long as they meet certain criteria?
Police officers have to pay personal-property tax. They have to pay for health care for their families. They are not allowed to shop at commissaries or a PX.
The police have taken issue with the fact that police officers in surrounding areas are paid higher for the same type of service. Military families around here have to worry depending on where their loved one's current assignment is, especially with some of the current international unrest. But I don't think they have to worry about a Bosnian artillery shell hitting their house. They do have to worry if someone is going to burglarize your home while you are away or steal your child's bike or your car. And if that happens, who they you look to? The police.
The police are put in harm's way every day that they work, not just during times of war or periods of international unrest. The Virginia Beach police are taking up an issue that directly affects their lives.
Mark Bordner
Chickakee Lane
I had the privilege to participate in the ride-along program with Virginia Beach police from the 4th Precinct on two recent Saturday evenings. I highly endorse this program, as I witnessed the highest degree of professionalism and courtesy by all the officers in Kempsville.
Our police are not compensated well for what they undergo: 95 degree-plus temperatures, body armor, the stress of answering call after call, many times having to run a distance on foot, the paperwork. I agree they are underpaid and at times overworked.
Don Hipple
Virginia Beach by CNB