The exit of Officer Keith Kircher from the Vancouver Police Department was refreshing news (“Vancouver police officer resigned day before interview regarding lying, harassment,” The Columbian, May 4). The VPD recently expelled another officer for violating department rules.
Unfortunately, these exits do not happen often enough. The U.S. has too many independent police organizations that have insufficient control over their officers.
The best-known case is Derek Chauvin’s conviction for murdering George Floyd. Chauvin and the others convicted of on-duty murder should have been expelled before their crimes were committed. That they were problem officers was well known, but there is a general reluctance to expel problem officers (their numbers are not large). It is comforting that our VPD is an exception.
