Opinion: Protect And Respect For All

The following op-ed was written by Norwalk resident Nancy Follis:

It takes courage to make a stand, speak out, and do the right thing. As a longtime citizen of Norwalk, I’m taking the time to write this of my own volition because I believe this is the most significant part of your recent stories about Bob Duff and the incident that occurred at the police department. We want and need public servants who can get things done and are willing to speak out and speak up to help make corrective, positive change.

It’s not easy to make a stand, get legislation passed, and publicly speak to others who may want to “kill the messenger.” Senator Bob Duff did all three of those things. He accepted an invitation to speak with the Norwalk Police Department after helping to pass legislation banning chokeholds and collectively holding officers responsible for “bad behavior” that could potentially lead to incidents like the one that happened to George Floyd. In the case of the George Floyd killing, Officer Chauvin had been cited for numerous reported incidents that made him a threat and a danger to others, but he was protected by the union and remained on the force. Would the outcome have been the same if this legislation was in place?

Regarding the incident with the officers, it’s never been easy to confront bullying behavior, but this is what we need to do, collectively, if change is going to occur. On a larger scale, we need a societal shift, starting from the top, down. We have slowly become a society that increasingly minimizes, justifies, tolerates, or dismisses bullying tactics and disrespect. In this case, it was intimidating a public figure and making a spitting gesture. Some of you may be thinking it’s “no big deal,” but then where do we draw the line? We need to learn how to “respectfully disagree” and collectively rise to a higher standard of behavior for all if we are to advance as a society.

I hope we can all come together to help preserve and protect the values that help define us all. Aretha Franklin sang it well. R – E - S – P – E – C – T!