Everett’s ‘no sit, no lie’ ordinance can work if used properly

Regarding recent coverage on Everett’s expanded “no sit, no lie” ordinance (“Mayor given new authority to expand Everett ‘no sit, no lie’ zones,” The Herald, May 4).

I can relate the law to laws to ban choke holds and tear gas as tools police can or could use to control individuals or crowds that pose danger to themselves or the rest of us.

Police need a range of tools to be able to choose an appropriate tool for the specific circumstance. I am strongly against choking suspects to death and deploying tear gas indiscriminately. But if the next step in controlling a dangerous individual becomes shooting them or a dangerous crowd water cannons, taking the options away from police is not necessarily a good thing.

In all these cases we need well-trained, compassionate police officers to make good choices as to how to handle difficult situations. This includes the ability to move homeless people along when they select bad options for public behavior. “No sit, no lie,” gives the police options, it is important they use them legitimately and legally.

Mike Matusky

Everett