Less-lethal arrest deserves appreciation

My hat is off to the Fresno police officers who chose to use non-lethal force when apprehending a robbery suspect (Fresno Bee article Dec. 3).

Even though the suspect apparently had a knife, and the senior officer on the scene, Lt. Joe Gomez, was “close, really close” to shooting the suspect, he and another officer wisely and responsibly used non-lethal beanbag rounds to apprehend the suspect.

I hope the Fresno Police Department holds Lt. Gomez up as an example to others in the department. If only the police in Chicago, New York, Bakersfield and many other cities could demonstrate this degree of restraint and discipline in their actions. Maybe Lt. Gomez should be asked to teach the departments in those cities how good policing can work.

In my opinion, Lt. Gomez and the other officer should be officially commended by the city of Fresno.

This story was originally published December 5, 2015 at 6:35 AM with the headline "Less-lethal arrest deserves appreciation."