The article about the judgment in the death of Dondi Johnson Sr. ("$7.4 million judgment in wrongful-death suit," April 8) is very upsetting. We pay taxes so we can have officers to protect and serve, but this is just another case showing how Baltimore City police treat detainees with no respect, like they were animals and not human at all.

I feel that officers Nicole Leake, Sendy Ferdinand and Michael Riser should pay the $7.4 million to Mr. Johnson's family, and the officers responsible should stop hiding behind their badges and give the Johnson family the money from their own pockets not from the city funds. Why should we have to pay for the officers' error in judgment? What is right is right, and what is wrong is wrong!

Rhoda Huth, Dundalk