Police safeguards needed
So, Edison will now have a police director, and promotions within the department shall be handled a little differently. Despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth displayed by police and citizens alike, the outcome, we believe, was never really in doubt. Mayor Jun Choi has an established track record of getting what he wants, and this was yet one more instance among foundations.

This matter is difficult for us to comment on because we are still genuinely torn by it. While Brian Collier and Thomas Bryan are capable individuals who will, no doubt, handle their duties well, we are still a little uneasy about the precedent their appointments have set.

Without a doubt, the police ordinances represent a vast expansion to the power of the mayor's office. Some might argue that this expansion is necessary in order to effectually repair systemic flaws both within the department and the township, and perhaps they would be right. But we cannot help but be uncomfortable at any large concentration of power, no matter how good the intentions of those who hold it are said to be - we all know with what the road to hell is paved.

There must, therefore, be safeguards instituted within the police department. We have suggested this before with regard to the reforms to the promotions system, suggesting the institution of objective tests to be eligible for a promotion. We would also like to suggest the institution of a concrete set of rules that outline what the administration can and cannot do to and with the police director.

While Choi has said he would give Collier a great deal of discretion to do his job, creating a specific statute would enforce his word and would also allow the mayor to demonstrate to the people that he is serious about giving the director the wide berth he would need.What these rules would include, we don't know, since we are not law enforcement professionals and don't know what is and isn't needed. But surely this can be worked out.

Finally, Choi is, like all politicians and all people, a flawed individual with his own weaknesses and these, inevitably, leak into his politics. But to compare him to history's greatest monsters serves to only cheapen the millions of lives lost at their hands and makes it difficult to take even valid arguments seriously.