I am writing in response to the story (“U students accuse police of beating, kicking in arrest,” Sept. 17) about the alleged beating of University students at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department.

I certainly feel for Adam Baso and Ryan Hill and am both saddened and frightened by the brutal treatment they received from the officers who, according to the MPD Web site, are “dedicated to Ö serving and protecting the community 24 hours a day.” However, it seems that there is a bigger, more disturbing issue at hand that should concern the entire community.

This city has become so used to police brutality and power abuse that incidents such as Saturday night’s have become routine. The media, the court systems, the police departments, the University, the federal system and the city itself each commit a misdeed to the community by continuously turning their heads while the MPD are allowed to run wild and commit atrocities without any sort of checks and balances or any sense of responsibility.

Speaking up isn’t easy, but it doesn’t take a psychology major to tell you that if a child is continually allowed to do something wrong, without any sort of reprimand or punishment, they’ll never stop doing it. Thank you, Baso and Hill, for having the guts to stand up against how lawless the Minneapolis Police Department has become.