LAPD Helicopters

I’m sure the LAPD appreciated your puff piece, “Copter Cops” (March 2), but couldn’t you have at least considered some of the negative aspects of these things? They are extravagant, overused and intrusive. They symbolize the ineptitude and laziness of law enforcement in a city where it is darn near impossible to get a police officer to come to your home unless shots are fired.

More than actual crime, it is the overreliance of the LAPD on helicopters that creates the climate of fear that makes so much of Los Angeles feel like a war zone. Their costs, monetary and otherwise, seldom justify their benefits.

BLAKE GUMPRECHT

Los Angeles