LAPD Raids

I agree completely with your editorial (April 6) that the recent police raids in South-Central were not a tea dance, and that mistakes are inevitable in an operation of this risk and scope.

However, wouldn’t it also have been nice to read in The Times that, the next day, a couple of officers had knocked at the door of the woman whose apartment had been trashed because of a mistaken address, saying something like: “Good morning, ma’am. We want to apologize for the screw-up last night. It was an honest mistake and we’re here to give you a hand picking things up.” Or, in another case: “Sorry about breaking down your door last night. It was a mistake and we want to send somebody by this afternoon to repair it.” Good community relations? The best! And a lot less expensive than settling million-dollar damage suits.

ROBERT G. KELM

Venice