Jacque Thornton, in her “This ’n’ That” column in the August edition, lamented a ticket received by her daughter for parking in a handicap space, suggesting that the police should have come into the medical facility to see if there was an emergency.

Really?

While I’m sure your readers, including me, shared your distress over your daughter’s health problem, there is no way a police officer should be expected to take the time in such situations to find the offenders and inquire as to the reason why they parked illegally in a handicap space before writing a ticket. The police are understaffed, underfunded and over-extended. They have their hands full with more pressing public safety issues and I, for one, as a taxpayer would be upset with law enforcement if they spent their time engaged in the kind of activity that you advocate.

Perhaps you can find a sympathetic judge on appeal should you choose to go that route, but let’s not put the burden on law enforcement officers to make inquiries each time they find a car parked illegally in a handicap space.

James Simon
Kingston

Editor’s note: The ticket was issued by a uniformed citizen volunteer with the Poulsbo Police Department.