To the editor:
The elected officials packed Seabrook’s Deliberative Session on Feb. 5 and zeroed out a popular measure to install dash cameras in all of Seabrook’s police cruisers, which are quickly becoming standard nationwide for gathering evidence, catching criminals, deterring bad acts at pullovers and improving police accountability and public safety.
The same elected officials who are asking voters to approve over $57 million in expenditures on March 12, including the school warrant articles, have been telling voters that even $2,800 (about 18 cents per household) would be “too much for the taxpayers to bear.”
Aspiring Selectman Paula Wood argued loudly that department heads should be allowed to run their department however they want, as though the taxpayers have no say in the matter. Selectman Aboul Kahn has repeated his mantra that no one else in town has told him about problems with any Seabrook officers. Many tell me that they’ve complained to him, to no avail. Only Selectman Kelly supported the idea in principle.
Career criminals avoid towns where homeowners are armed or police have cameras. Tempers flared that private citizens would bypass selectmen to ensure that police pullovers were recorded on audio and video, showing juries — and the public — how officers, citizens, criminals and even elected officials and their relatives are behaving during DUI stops.
To me, citizen’s petitions are about values — who we are, what we’re about as Americans. We the people recognized and attempted to address a problem that the elected officials will not. Does it raise a red flag when a police union and politicians prevent accountability, even taking away our right to vote on such a needed measure? What do they have to hide? Honest officers and citizens have nothing to fear from video.
Max Abramson
Seabrook
Twiggy, the Water Skiing Squirrel
Sailor Surprises His Mom At Her CU Denver Graduation Ceremony
Official: ‘Amazing’ No One Was Killed In CT Train Crash
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Coffee Stop Leads To Arrest Of YouTube Sensation Wanted For Murder
Bearded Dragon Reunited With Owner
Marine Reunited with Warzone Companion
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Beyonce Is Pregnant!
SF baseball player overpaid $500,000 RETURNS money -- and team says KEEP IT
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
Dad returns from Afghanistan, surprises family during Rays' first pitch
See Jennifer Lopez's New $10m Hamptons Mansion
Woman tricked into taking abortion pill
Emma Watson Goes Pantless
IRS scandal: Republicans seek to tie Obama to agency's woes
Play of the Day: Flipping to Safety
Pregnant Kim Kardashian Squeezes Her Swollen Feet Into Stilettos
Top Videos of the Week: Angry Taco Bell Guy, Glacier Moves on House, Dog Hates Baths
Cindy Crawford Stuns At Cannes
