LAPD Report on Mitchell Shooting
Re “Chief Is Said to Fault Officer for Not Disarming Woman,” Oct. 28: I have no doubts that two young, armed, mobile and well-trained police officers had no need to shoot Margaret Mitchell in order to disarm her. But the police chief will find what he will find, and justice may never really be served.
But what priorities has the department established when a stolen shopping cart used by a homeless person becomes a concern for two officers? Surely with gang violence, drug dealing, vehicle and home robberies undermining personal safety in so many neighborhoods, our limited dollars could be used for better purposes than ensuring that a market gets its shopping cart back.
We lack sufficient patrolmen to deal with serious crime. Not only has a life been taken needlessly, but these officers should have cycled away to deal with real crime.
MARK BRITOWICH
Woodland Hills
* If LAPD Chief Bernard Parks thinks shooting and killing a mentally ill woman who was armed with a screwdriver did not violate department policy, then something at the LAPD is in serious need of change!
RONALD G. ROWE
Moorpark
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