Mark Fuhrman

Re “Co-Workers Paint Different Portrait of Mark Fuhrman,” Nov. 8: I’ve thought that perhaps former LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman has been unfairly vilified, and your article seems to lend credence to the fact that this man was tried and convicted by the attorneys representing O.J. Simpson, without ever hearing from those who know him best.

The racial slurs, most of which were made in 1985, could very well have emanated from his experiences with gangs in South-Central Los Angeles, and embellished to give Laura Hart McKinney a story for her potential movie script. Actions speak louder than words, and so far there has been no evidence that Fuhrman has perpetrated any acts that were racially biased.

W.D. ARMSTRONG

Torrance

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* Regarding the inquiries to be made by the U.S. Justice Department into the activities of the Los Angeles Police Department and Fuhrman (Nov. 7), all I can say is, “It’s about time! Go to it!”

In recent times I believe we have been witness to every inequity, abuse, infamy, violation and injury committed under color of law that one can imagine. The events of 1965 and 1992, the outcome of the Simpson trial, in each case the misbehavior of the police having been cited, should show us all the terrible cost of maintaining a department that is out of control. It is a luxury that we can ill-afford.

Years ago Rep. John Conyers of Detroit, after conducting hearings in Los Angeles into police abuse, came away saying that the LAPD was a “law unto themselves.”

Unfortunately, nothing seems to have changed.

JOSEPH GIUS

Los Angeles