Reasons for Fewer Arrests by LAPD

Re “The Puzzle of Plummeting Arrests,” editorial, March 14:

I would like to give you a cop’s point of view why arrest statistics are down for the LAPD. I’ve been a street cop in L.A. for over 30 years. I made a mental note when Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell went to prison for beating Rodney King that this would never happen to me. Most cops feel if not for the grace of God, they could be prosecuted for an honest mistake while doing their jobs.

Cops on the street can see how the command organization has deserted them time and time again. They feel like political pawns who are moved back and forth for what is politically correct at the time.

Unfortunately for the people of L.A., I don’t expect things to get better. I recommend that the motto on police cars be changed from “to protect and serve” to “drive and wave.”

WILLIAM E. WALDO

Torrance

* I’m surprised that you are surprised. Nothing could be more instructive than to see two of your fellow officers doing time and having their careers ruined because of something they did on the job. What’s wrong with erring on the safe side?

In our Kafkaesque world, it’s more dangerous to arrest than not to arrest. Prosecutors have provided the perfect deterrent to aggressive law enforcement. As for traffic, it follows right along--any stop is a dangerous stop. Why take a chance? But how can you complain? Read your past editorials on the police. You got what you wanted.

SAMUEL ZARCOFF

Los Angeles

* The Times’ negative approach to the decline in Los Angeles Police Department arrest statistics raises a serious question: Is our emphasis on quality versus quantity serving the needs and desires of our community? By nearly every measure, this department has successfully provided professional community-oriented services.

Forging community alliances, responding to community concerns and focusing on effectiveness have been a changing philosophy over the past four years. All of us within this organization have embarked on that mission rather than merely one-dimensional policing. In the past, this department displayed on bulletin boards arrests, citations, field interviews and calls for service. Officers’ daily activities were posted in each station house for all to see, ridicule, cajole and compete with. We excelled at filling our jails, courtrooms and prisons. Crime continued to escalate, yet we boasted of arresting and citing more people than ever before. And to what end? We have a bankrupt criminal justice system and no more room in our jails. Officers were so busy making any and every kind of arrest, they were forced to neglect calls for service and neglected to focus on the real concerns of the community.

As a result of our new mandate for change, we focus on the desires of the community. Arrests that were not focused on crime reduction and unnecessary adversarial field encounters declined. However, a 26% reduction in crime over the past four years has also occurred. Traffic enforcement focused toward reducing serious injury and death has brought about reduction in traffic collisions. Personnel complaints, including unauthorized uses of force, have declined more than 40% since 1992.

Comments comparing the LAPD and New York Police Department are laughable. Those of us who have spent time on the streets of New York know both are great cities. Nevertheless, these cities’ approaches to public safety are historically different. Even with New York’s “new approach,” officers average 7.5 arrests per officer per year compared to LAPD’s 22.4 arrests per officer per year (1994).

We have learned our community wants this department to focus on crime reduction, fear reduction and quality-of-life issues and form long and lasting partnerships. That is where our efforts are.

WILLIE L. WILLIAMS

Los Angeles Chief of Police