I recently sat at Sterling's Restaurant, eating breakfast as I routinely do, and again I witnessed a Richland police officer (it looked like he had stripes on his uniform so he was either a captain or sergeant) in an unmarked black Ford enter onto George Washington Way without wearing his seat belt.

I've repeatedly notified city officials only to get another "I don't care" from them. Since when is it all right for government officials to break the very same laws citizens are held accountable to? I'd love to issue citations, but was told the only people who can do so are police officers.

It looks to me as if our control over government is going down while government control over us is increasing.

Where are the checks and balances to keep government representatives from breaking the law? Even inconvenient ones should be followed.

Maybe our police officers are ignorant of the law? Maybe because there are so many laws controlling our behavior while driving? Oops, ignorance is no excuse.

EUGENE TURNER, Richland