Heidi Fleiss Chronicles

* The first Heidi Fleiss (Aug. 1) story I found somewhat interesting; the second a little less so.

But by week’s end, with stories about alleged Madam Heidi’s travails running virtually every day--capped by no less than three in the Aug. 6 Times (front section, Metro and Business)--I didn’t know whether to laugh, scream or yawn at your oversaturated, overhyped coverage.

Isn’t there enough real news for you to cover?

MICHAEL D. HARRIS

Tarzana

* What exactly has Heidi Fleiss, the alleged “madam to the stars,” done wrong? Who has she hurt?

If, in fact, Ms. Fleiss arranged for her colleagues to provide sexual satisfaction to show biz moguls, that really is a matter for the exclusive concern of her, her staff and customers. So long as no one was involved in this alleged affair under duress, the police should butt out. Funny, if no money had changed hands, as the authorities claim, this whole matter would be dismissed as another juicy tidbit of celebrity gossip. As soon as someone whips out a billfold, in come the cops.

The Los Angeles Police Department should focus on fighting the violent crime and destruction of property (e.g., graffiti) that are costing lives and coarsening our society. If adult Angelenos want to make love behind closed doors, with or without a few bank notes landing on the night stand afterwards, it really should be none of the police’s business.

DEROY MURDOCK

Culver City

* I can’t believe the National Organization for Women and Gloria Allred are coming to the defense of Fleiss (Aug. 7). Allred wants the “johns” pursued and NOW’s comment on the Fleiss arrest was it “indicates a system that doesn’t get it.”

Get this: The “johns” are being pursued with a passion by every serious and tabloid reporter. Without famous clients this would be a footnote in a throw-away newspaper.

Fleiss will probably sell her black book for film and book rights. If so, will equality-minded NOW and Allred see to it that the proceeds are shared equally among those clients whose famous names made the payday possible?

RICHARD POWERS

Van Nuys

* I can’t tell you how much safer I feel living in Los Angeles now that we’ve begun to crack down on the dangerous act of “pandering.” Please continue to clean up our streets and don’t forget to nab all those jaywalkers, too!

It’s amazing that in times of serious violence on the street, in the schools and in private residences of our communities, our public servants seem to be more concerned with what goes on between two consenting adults rather that taking necessary steps to change our gun laws.

BOBBIE NOWLING

Los Angeles

* The notion of all these guys running around town denying they knew Heidi Fleiss is really a Hollywood parody from Mel Brooks or Blake Edwards, right? Only the script couldn’t be this funny.

I guess it’s the Chicago in me that wonders what the heck all the noise is about these Heidi chronicles. Back there, expensive call girls and madams rarely ruined careers. They unfortunately enhanced them, making it seem as if the men had really arrived.

Unless a public trust has been violated here, what is the story--that momentarily powerful men with too much extracurricular money and no class spend money on call girls? Get real. The news would be if they spent that same money and effort fixing a broken city.

SYDNEY WEISMAN

Los Angeles

* It does not surprise me that the “Heidi Fleiss factor” is a reality in the Hollywood world. Haven’t the film producers always told us that the filth we see in the movies is only a reflection of real life?

What I didn’t know was that they were talking about themselves. I thought they meant us.

VIRGINIA MARTIN

Desert Hot Springs

* The only real crime involved here is the priority given to this case by the LAPD. Murder, rape, assault, drive-by shootings and armed robbery prevail on the streets of Los Angeles and the vice squad puts together a multi-agency task force drawing officers from LAPD, Beverly Hills Police Department, state Alcoholic Beverage Control and the state attorney general’s office to catch a high-priced hooker!

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan wants to put 3,000 more police officers on the street to combat violent crime. The citizens of Los Angeles, as well as citizens of other crime-ravaged communities across the country, are suckers if they cough up one more dime or close one more library to fund more police without a full accountability on the part of their police departments concerning the use and priorities of the officers that they already have.

BOB CONSTANTINE

Placentia