Zero Tolerance of Ice Cream

My letter is in response to the excellent story by Claudia Puig (May 29) regarding the plight of paleteros , ice cream vendors, in San Fernando and the police and city government.

To many people in the city of San Fernando, the police appear to be non-existent. They are nowhere in sight when graffiti are being liberally applied to homes and buildings, drugs are being sold, or drunks and panhandlers are roaming the streets. When called, the police are often bored, sometimes hostile or unable to act.

But now I can rest easy. Apparently the city and the police are cracking down on the big criminals first, before tackling the petty little crimes of burglary, robbery, graffiti and the rest. After all, an ice cream vendor is much more of a community threat than, say, a drug dealer. Sure! It sounds like a fall TV pilot, perhaps named San Fernando Five-O, and the catch phrase will be “Book ‘em Danno, misdemeanor Popsicle.”

JOSEPH D. LEWELLEN

San Fernando