Readers sound off on politicized policing, new Scrabble rules and funding libraries

The cops at the top say OK to partisan police

Manhattan: Re “NYPD chief backs out” (May 8): NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell may have backed out of one political event, but he won’t back down from his political posturing and shenanigans whilst in uniform and otherwise touting his prominence in the NYPD. Shockingly, our lame Mayor Adams — himself a former police captain — won’t rein Chell in. Adams actually defends this chief, notwithstanding Chell’s flouting of clear departmental rules and regulations against political proselytizing.

Why haven’t the mayor or his hand-picked police commissioner decried or punished the NYPD chief of patrol for using his uniform, badge and high position to espouse personal views? The chief has even openly defied media and civilian critics who lambasted him. So, it’s no wonder that Chell will ignore the rules and defiantly push back, with self-righteous social media postings and sheer rhetoric that bring attention to himself and sully his badge and the NYPD’s nonpartisanship.

Alas, realizing his self-absorbed pandering and posturing scheduled to appear at a GOP event in Queens would be too much, the chief pulled out — without apologizing for the event’s picturing him in full uniform and regalia, badge and all. Even as he withdrew from the partisan event, the chief reassured his reputed fans that he was never going to stop proselytizing. Why would he, when the mayor and Commissioner Eddie Caban wink at and excuse his shameless behavior in uniform and while wearing a badge?

Tell me: Who’s the real boss at NYPD anyway? Perhaps only a censure from the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board will finally shut Chell’s big trap. Michael Meyers

Unwelcome allies

Massapequa, L.I.: To all of the young men, women and trans pro-terror radicals on college campuses across this country: Do you not understand that the people you are supporting hate you and would throw you off a roof or behead you faster than you could say, “From the river to the sea”? Tom Ascher

Permanent consequences?

Plainview, L.I.: My question is to all the students who were arrested for protesting in different states. Will it be on their permanent record and will it affect them later down the line when they apply for a job? Will it come back to haunt them? Employers will not hire people who have a record, no matter when it happened. They will regret it in later years. Frank Mauceri

Misdirected

Charlotte, N.C.: To Voicer Blake Fleetwood: How gleefully you crow about war protests in 1968 from the safety of your college campus, hiding out from the draft using daddy’s money for your college deferment. Thousands of kids without your resources were sent to Vietnam in your stead to die as cannon fodder or return to America, disillusioned and beaten down by combat, only to be scorned by the nice, safe college kids. They were victims of the war, betrayed by their government and sent in waves to a battle that couldn’t be won. My husband spent his military service in North Carolina since he was an only child, but he too was called “baby killer,” etc. because people reacted to the uniform, as if the guy wearing it could make any change in policy. Protest the war in Vietnam, but why attack returning soldiers? Protest the war in Gaza, but why attack Jewish students? Barbara Haynes

Abandoned value

Dartmouth, Mass.: It is amazing, disconcerting and infuriating that so many of the proponents of the right to life are indifferent to the death and suffering of so many Palestinians. The images of fetuses in utero move them more than pictures of mutilated, bloody and dead Palestinian babies. In the same vein, there is scant compassion or understanding for the thousands of migrant children and their desperate parents who risk or lose their lives pursuing freedom and escaping poverty and violence. Further inconsistency is demonstrated by so many of these zealots who advocate withholding assistance to Ukrainian children and families who are bombarded, dispossessed of their homes and killed or maimed. Successful at outlawing or severely restricting abortion, they have turned their attention to denying military aid to Ukraine and continuing assistance to Israel. You can’t claim respect for human life and render aid to murderous regimes and turn your back on besieged millions. Betty Ussach

Force an end

Brooklyn: If the UN is truly dedicated to peace, why doesn’t it intervene in Gaza? The UN should mobilize a peacekeeping force to stabilize the situation. Vito Labella

Letter to a soldier

Pasadena, Calif.: Were you not, as a baby, given milk to drink, cradled in the arms of love? Did you not, as a child, hold a roll of string attached to a kite, and gaze up at hawks circling above the clouds? Did you not run through fields, swim in rivers and chase dreams? Were you not enveloped by an embrace, which is the gift of existence in this world? Was your heart ever filled with such magic that it might explode without taking pen to paper to express the beauty? Why do we fight? Why do we give birth to and raise children only to send them out to kill and be killed? I will not fight to satisfy your greed. I will not sacrifice my children to satisfy your greed. I will not kill your children in retaliation, as a consequence of your greed. Please, stop fighting. Robin Bevan

Religion, not race

Astoria: Why did the Daily News publish Voicer Herb Paserman’s letter when it was riddled with inaccuracies and half-truths? The most glaring is when he alludes to Trump’s “racist Muslim ban.” There is no race of Muslims, and that fact should have stood out to your editorial staff. But then again, accusations rooted in identity politics is Liberalspeak 101 for shutting down dissent, facts be damned. Bradley Morris

Nobody wins

Melbourne, Australia: I could say that I like playing one-sided chess with only white pieces, as I never lose, but that would make no sense and it would corrupt the nature of the game. However, the exciting world of Scrabble is facing a potentially catastrophic update with collaborative games rather than individual players or even teams. Depending on the way the four players work together, the magic word “caziques,” worth 392 points, could finally be played, although it might require cheating. If all four play at the same time “antidisestablishmentarianism” could be put down using all of their tiles, although it would fall off the edge. The weirdest part is this change is designed to attract Gen Z youths, a group who could not get off their screens long enough to even pick up the seven tiles. Dennis Fitzgerald

Hard on hard copy

Brooklyn: To Voicer Stephen Talenti: Don’t tell me to get with the times. It’s because of people like you that newsstands are going out of business. I prefer to hold the paper, and if I am paying $3, I should get the latest edition. Explain why the N.Y. Post can charge $2 and have the latest edition. While the Daily News is a better paper overall, the sports in the Post is way better, unless you like to hear Mike Lupica write about his wonderful family and politics. Dennis Burge

Public benefit

Manhattan: It’s going to take more than Nicole Kidman’s promise of magic to get us to an AMC Theatre again any time soon. Last summer, a movie date with my husband at senior prices, pre-booked and fees included, was about $30. Now it’s close to $60. That’s without popcorn. But listen up, Mayor Adams: $30 is already way too much for plenty of people, while the New York Public Library is free for everybody. With the help of wonderful librarians, you can borrow books, audio and movies, learn English, gather for afterschool programs and use computers for everything from homework to job searches. Libraries help people grow, educate themselves, lead productive lives and have fun. You don’t need Kidman to tell you where the magic is. You’ve got me and New Yorkers, lots of kids included, who pass libraries’ thresholds of knowledge, advice and entertainment. Restore library funding. No magic, just common sense. Laurie Aron