MARTA police do arrest panhandlers
Regarding “A grating greeting to Atlanta” (May 12, Opinion), columnist Tom Sabulis would have readers believe MARTA’s police department is not making arrests for panhandling; yet within the last year, there have been 362 arrests. MARTA’s “Ride With Respect” campaign has been an effective deterrent for disorderly behavior. More than 4,800 individuals have been suspended from the system.
In spite of our efforts, there will be times when we are not around. Customers with smartphones are encouraged to download MARTA’s free “See And Say” app, which allows them to covertly take a flashless picture or send a text directly to our police communications center. Riders also can use the blue “Emergency” phones in the stations and the call buttons on the trains.
Once information is received, an officer is dispatched immediately to the scene. In June, we will begin installing cameras on every train. Even with all this available technology, including plainclothes officers who apprehended a serial killer and prevented fare evaders, we still encourage customers to let officers know if they see anything out of the ordinary. We can’t be everywhere at all times. We rely on our customers to be our eyes and ears.
WANDA Y. DUNHAM, MARTA CHIEF OF POLICE
Let’s debunk myths about the fair tax
In regard to the fair tax, Allen Buckley beats a very old drum that skews the math and incorrectly states the “numbers don’t add up” (“Do better than the fair tax,” Opinion, May 13). Rather than use my space to refute his claims, I would refer the reader to the book by Congressman John Linder and radio personality Neal Boortz, “The Fair Tax Book” (HarperCollins, 2005) where Mr. Buckley’s miscalculations are answered in depth. The fair tax is great for America because it will reduce IRS costs substantially, collect taxes from “shadow workers” like drug dealers, reduce the lobbying of Congress, and best of all, make paying taxes so simple, none of us will have to hire an accountant to help us.
DAN MILLER, ALPHARETTA
Swipe at Christians sets up straw man
Jay Bookman’s column, “Government not to blame in U.S. Christianity decline” (Opinion, May 13), builds a straw man argument in reporting a significant national decline in those who self-identify as Christians. He asserts this reduction helps explain why many Christians believe they are under attack by various government policies. Thus their resistance, for example, to gay marriage and the contraceptive requirements of the Affordable Care Act. Such policy issues, and many others, are important Christian concerns, but they are unrelated to any real people pointing a finger at federal policy for increasing religious non-affiliation. There are no public figures in the Christian community pronouncing such a cause-and-effect relationship.
ALAN FOSTER, ACWORTH
