Letters: Stress, safety and the LAPD

Re “‘A tragic misinterpretation,’” Feb. 9

I sympathize with the extreme stress officers in the Los Angeles Police Department are under right now with one of their former colleagues allegedly on a murderous rampage. But I do not see how this assault on two innocent women in a truck that doesn’t really fit the description of the wanted vehicle can be explained away.

Police are supposed to protect us from harm, and stress is part of the job. The barrage of bullets fired at a car containing two women, not a large man, is ample evidence that the police were seriously out of control. If this incident hadn’t taken place at 5 a.m., there would probably have been more victims.

I sincerely hope that Christopher Jordan Dorner is found quickly and that there are no more injuries or deaths. We need to be able to trust our police, and this kind of incident doesn’t foster trust.

Denise Frey

Santa Barbara

“Trigger happy” was my immediate response. But on further consideration, my thought is that perhaps it is the LAPD that should be subjected to gun control.

Chief Charlie Beck’s description of the officers’ “incredible stress” as easily leading to a “not difficult to imagine” mistake in almost assassinating two newspaper delivery women is in fact totally unimaginable to this member of the civilian population.

Richard Geist

Rancho Mirage

I’m sorry, but this was not a tragic misinterpretation. It was a lack of planning, leadership, training, observation and, above all, a total absence of respect for constitutional rights and due process.

Unfortunately, that tends to be an expectation for our police in this day and age.

Jon Phillips

Torrance

God bless the people who deliver print copies of The Times to our homes. Our newspaper is on the front walk every morning before 6 a.m. Our carriers brave darkness, rain, wind, floods and earthquakes to deliver the paper on time; they should not have to withstand a hail of bullets from police officers.

Thank you, Times newspaper carriers, and carry on.

Charles W. Jenner

Los Alamitos

Re “$1 million is offered to find Dorner,” Feb. 11

Of course Dorner needs to be caught, but when L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants to end this “reign of terror” and the city offers a $1 million reward for information leading to Dorner’s capture, a huge double standard is revealed.

What about the reign of terror taking place in parts of the city where gangs have power and innocent lives are frequently lost? It is deeply saddening that only when one of their own is threatened do we see this level of mobilization by the police.

Of course this rampage must be stopped, but so too should the rampant gun violence threatening the rest of us. We’re all in this together.

Jeffrey Wade

San Diego

I want to thank and applaud all law enforcement professionals who are faced with increasingly violent and bizarre criminal activity. I’m sure that I am not the only person who wonders if the world is going crazy, but I take comfort in knowing that there are dedicated professionals who can be called on to enforce and restore law and order.

Thank you. You are appreciated.

Paul Brown

Long Beach

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