To the editor:

With the recent focus on police policies and procedures, it seems that the locus of guilt has been shifted from the speeding criminal to the pursuing police. Let’s not forget that it was he who killed Ms. Vellucci, not the police. Let’s not forget that it was him speeding around town, endangering everyone, and it was the police who were trying to stop him. Let’s not forget that he was endangering lives long before there were any police chasing him and could have easily killed someone even if they hadn’t chased him.

Criminals are not robots. When they are chased by police, they can choose to pull over. Ms. Vellucci’s death is the awful consequence of his rotten decisions, not the police. Let the blame fall squarely on him, where it belongs. And let’s stop changing the subject and obsessing about proper police protocol.

Curtis Knapp,

Lawrence