To Call Brutality ‘Frequent’ Is Unnecessary Use of Force

I read Sandy Banks’ column on police brutality today (“It Happens--So Why Don’t We Face It?” July 16) and was very impressed with her recognition of “expectations” as a causative factor in situations similar to the Inglewood incident. Surely she realizes that “expectation” is synonymous to “profiling.” Formed by prior experience, expectation is considered a legitimate and worthwhile human trait. Expectation, after all, leads us to avoid snakes and spiders even though a relative few of them are poisonous.

Profiling, though, is a sinister, right-wing mechanism that allows cops and other government employees to arbitrarily deprive citizens of their rights.

I also must take exception to her statement as a fact that police brutality happens frequently. As popular as she may be, I seriously doubt that Banks knows nearly enough victims of police brutality to in any way draw such a conclusion.

I would ask her this: How many police-public contacts are made daily in Los Angeles? Los Angeles County? California? Nationwide? I can tell her that in L.A. County the number is in the tens of thousands. I couldn’t begin to guess what the number might be state and nationwide. And what percentage of those contacts does she think result in acts of police brutality? The number, I’d bet, is minuscule.

In my 21 years in law enforcement ... I never saw any of the people I worked with use unnecessary force.

STEVEN L. SWITZER

Redondo Beach

Steven L. Switzer is a retired lieutenant from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.