As a Prince George’s County elementary school teacher, I was sickened by the information presented in the article titled “Rough Justice” (1/7). The police officers who were mentioned in the article are worse than the so-called scum they arrest. I am appalled particularly because we as educators try to teach our students to respect law enforcement officers and to look to them as public servants who are here to protect and serve the public.

The officers in the story should be fired, because not only are they a discredit and embarrassment to law enforcement agencies everywhere, they are inhumane and barbaric. Their brand of “justice” needs to be imposed on them, since they think it is acceptable to degrade and dehumanize individuals because they have made a mistake. I do not condone drug use or drug selling, but I certainly do not think it is acceptable to beat up or curse at people who are suspected of wrongdoing. These officers think that it is OK to lie and basically break the law they have sworn to uphold. I would like to know what the chief of police plans to do about this situation.

It is also disturbing that there is virtually very little being done to address the citizens’ complaints that have been made against these officers. My boyfriend has been a Metropolitan Police Department officer for 12 years. He is an honorable officer who does the job that he is paid to do, without degrading or intentionally causing harm to suspects that he arrests. These scum—McGee, Littlejohn, Moses, and Soto—give good officers a bad name, and it is no surprise they receive very little public respect or support.

Greenbelt, Md.