Neighbors Tie Ribbons to Support LAPD

Two Neighborhood Watch groups tied blue ribbons around trees and traffic signs on their streets Sunday to show their support for the Los Angeles Police Department despite the Mark Fuhrman controversy.

“We feel bad about what is going on with the LAPD,” said 22-year Topeka Drive resident Candy Burtis, who placed about 25 ribbons around the neighborhood with the help of her daughter and some neighbors. “But you can’t judge all of the police officers by what a few have done.”

Former LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman, who found the bloody glove in the O.J. Simpson case, was taped by a screenwriter using racial slurs and describing what he said was a police beating of suspects.

Fuhrman’s lawyer has said his client was creating a fictional character and was not describing actual events.

Burtis said residents of Topeka Drive and Cohasset Street, who are mostly longtime homeowners, sanctioned her efforts and even signed a greeting card that she presented to officers at the LAPD’s West Valley Division.

“When I handed the card to the officer at the front desk and told him what it was, he just gave me this really big grin,” she said.

Sgt. Bill Maarschalk of West Valley said the card was appreciated by the officers.

“It is nice to know people in the community support us despite what is going on in the news,” Maarschalk said.