Businesses Unfairly Blamed for Crime

With respect to Ilene Shapiro and Joanne Wright’s letter “Good Reasons Behind Rules for Liquor Store,” (May 21) I feel compelled to point out that our not-so-business-friendly city is not imposing costly and outrageous conditions just on liquor stores.

The city, through its Planning Department, is requiring the hiring of security guards and imposing other conditions on small businesses throughout Los Angeles for the simple reason that they, like Smiley’s Market, do business in tough neighborhoods.

It does not matter that in many situations:

1. The type of products or services being sold could not in any way, shape or form be a contributing factor to crime.

2. These businesses are in full compliance with the law.

3. The businesses have been in operation existing “by right” (e.g. without any variances or conditional use permits) for years and, therefore, legally have a reasonable expectation of continuing in this fashion.

4. The conditions have and will force many of these mom-and-pop (mostly minority-owned) businesses out of business.

I have found evidence that the testimony and statistics repeatedly used by the LAPD’s Van Nuys Division are often false and extremely misleading. When this evidence was presented to our city officials, it was disregarded.

It is indeed time for our elected officials to finally address the crime problem honestly and quit blaming legitimate businesses for crimes over which these businesses have absolutely no control or responsibility.

HARRIET K. BILFORD, Van Nuys