Letter to the Editor

TO THE EDITOR:

I watched last night’s Police Commission public meeting pertaining to Walter Simpson with great interest but also anger, as the true elephant in the room is the unknown accuser.

As many did I’m sure, we related Walter’s experience to that of the Central Park incident where an innocent bird watcher was falsely accused by a woman walking her dog. In that case, police action was quick and fair regarding the one accused.

Yes, the Weston police and the police commission are also at fault and there is no excuse for the complicity and lack of transparency of town officials. But the inquiry should BEGIN WITH why this incident was not brought to the attention of the public earlier and only occurred through a Letter to the Editor of Weston Today.

We have lived in Weston for over 50 years and are able to reflect on several incidents of racism that we have observed.

Notably was a petition that was sent around our neighborhood close to 40 years ago asking us to “object” to the purchase of a home by a Black family. Years later, a devoted health care worker for my father was stopped by police. We called the person who was then Police Commissioner and were given a lame excuse that they were looking for “someone else” who drove a similar car. More recently our cleaning service was stopped for spurious reasons.

As Westonites we now have a call for immediate action and I am hopeful that time will bring greater transparency among our town officials and that we will embrace Weston as an open community for all.

— Marjorie Nieuwenhuis

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