Remarkable.

In just a few seconds at a stop light, the Dec. 1 letter writer was able to profile an entire law enforcement agency and an entire town.

The writer needs to drop out of St. Andrews immediately and go directly to the Behavioral Analysis Unit, in Quantico, VA. I am sure they will be astonished with the student as well.

I agree that smoking is a filthy habit that everyone should quit but unfortunately we live in America where everyone has the right to do what they want as long as it is legal (what a terrible right to have).

We do hold police officers, doctors, lawyers, and others to a higher standard, but they all have one thing in common, they are human. Becoming an adult and a contributing member of society can often bring stress beyond belief and for a police officer it is compounded daily because they are fighting a terrorist war within our own borders that never end.

Had that officer just been thru a close call? Was that officer on break? I am not trying to take up for the officer but as an aspiring police officer, the student has a lot to learn about observation. I agree that the officier should consider hiding their habit while on duty and certainly not litter on duty or any other time for that matter, but the observations and statements were a bit overboard. The writer managed to take racial profiling to a whole new level, or another example would be if I said the letter should not be published because the writer is a alcohol-drinking pot head college student that knows nothing. See what I mean by racial profiling.

As an adult, I respect and hold our law enforcement to a higher level, I believe they wear an “S” on their chest but also a target on their back as everyone recently realized with the four officers slain in Washington. When a man or woman puts on a uniform each day they never know if that will be the last time, and they do this for a salary that some would turn their nose up to. I personally know of officers that have been attacked and beaten, shot at, shot, run over and that is just in this county. Believe me, if you were in need of an officer you could care less if they were a smoker, non-smoker had B.O. or bad breath, you would be glad to see them there. Yes they do need to be at their best when they are on duty and if they smoke, hide it, but we have a great group of people that have made tremendous advances in fighting crime and almost completely squashed the formation of gangs in this county. Our thanks to all of our men and women of law enforcement.

Tony Morgan