Police do Hoopfest right

As a police officer who’s not only walked a foot beat at Hoopfest and supervised the entire police presence there, I feel compelled to respond to Mr. Butters’ misinformed letter (June 23). Yes, the officers working Hoopfest are getting paid time and one half. They must be paid overtime as all of those officers are working Hoopfest outside of their normal duties. And, so many officers are needed that some are “drafted” to work the event. That means that they work it whether they want to or not. In special events like Hoopfest, the streets are closed and it is too difficult to get officers or medics to an emergency among the crowds. It is best to have a large number of officers spread throughout the venue. Good officer safety and crowd management principles dictate that officers work their foot patrols in teams of two, four or six officers, depending on venue assignment. It would not be wise to dump the responsibility of public safety on untrained civilian court marshals with a radio. I’ve worked nearly every Hoopfest as either a civilian volunteer or police officer. Believe me, while we can always learn, we’re doing it right.

David McCabe

Greenacres