Spokane may soon become a sister city of Detroit. As a 30-year career prosecutor, I am outraged at the minimal effort to enforce traffic violations and aggressively prosecute the violators actually cited. In particular, the South Hill has been turned into a traffic nightmare like the North Side.

The safety of pedestrians, especially the elderly and children, is at greater risk on 29th Avenue since Trader Joe’s was allowed to build. Bright yellow pedestrian crossing signs should be placed at both Fiske and Mt. Vernon streets, and a flashing light at the crosswalk by Rosauers. No one follows the speed limit or cares about pedestrians due to a lack of police presence. How many of the new 25 cops will Chief Frank Straub dedicate to traffic enforcement? How many injuries or deaths will it take?

Straub seemed more concerned with turning his stolen bike into a media event. Spokane needs a real cop as chief, someone like William Bratton, former New York Police commissioner. I loaned Bratton’s book on management to Mayor David Condon, but he may have ignored it. As a native Spokanite, the former city manager system worked better. Condon’s press conferences are so similar to President Obama’s.

Jim Reierson

Spokane