Vancouver resident Ann Donnelly shares an email she sent to Clark County Prosecuting Attorney Tony Golik regarding charges against Vancouver Police officer
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and do not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com
Based on Clark County Today’s prompt reporting, I was able to express my concern just now in an email to Prosecutor Tony Golik, as follows:
![Ann Donnelly](https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Story_Clark-County-Today-Adonnelly-Headshot-212x300.jpg)
Having read the reporting about this case I wanted to express my immediate interest and concern on behalf of this officer. I appreciate that the Vancouver Police Officer’s Guild
(VPOG) has already issued a statement, and after this initial reading, I support the guild 100 percent. Whatever I can do to add public support to the guild support, I will do.
We are in the midst of a shoplifting crisis involving not only small-scale crime but systematic cartel-related shoplifting mega-projects, some originating internationally. The public is shocked and disgusted to watch shoplifters get away with whatever they want to take in stores large and small, confident they will face no accountability. And they commit other crimes based on that confidence.
In this case, Officer Mendoza accomplished what the public would view as exemplary performance:
- She arrived at the scene promptly.
- She and her partner arrested one of the perpetrators without anyone getting hurt.
- She recovered the stolen goods, thus earning the thanks of every store owner who has watched their profits walk out the door with shoplifters.
But instead of calling the criminal to account, here is what happened:
- The charges were dropped against the youthful offender who now learns that criminal behavior pays off, and that he can go on to offend again.
- The police officer is called to account and has her career threatened because the criminal reports that he “felt threatened” when she used her taser and exposed his genitals, threatening to use her taser on them.
I look forward to following this case closely.
Ann Donnelly
Vancouver
Also read:
- Letter: For the public record and the Comprehensive PlanIn a July 12 letter to the Clark County Council, Clark County Citizens United President Susan Rasmussen shares that primary stakeholders were ignored in the Wetland and Habitat Ordinance Conservation Covenant.
- Opinion: Supreme Court gives Vancouver a new tool to use in its homelessness efforts, but will the city use it?Most Vancouver residents do not want homelessness to be criminalized but they do want a response when some in the homeless community commit crimes, and a new ruling by the United States Supreme court is a tool the city could use to help neighborhoods.
- Opinion: Has transit entered the “death spiral?”Transit ridership dropped sharply with the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2020. The slow rebound in the years that followed has prompted discussion, sometimes in hushed tones, as to whether transit had entered a “death spiral.”
- POLL: Should the city of Vancouver do more to protect citizens who have been victims of harassment, or worse, from those living homeless on the streets?Should the city of Vancouver do more to protect citizens who have been victims of harassment, or worse, from those living homeless on the streets?
- Opinion: How bad is freeway speeding?Target Zero Manager Doug Dahl answers a question about the commonplace of freeway speeding in Washington state.