D.A. Is Too Close to Cops in Abuse Cases

Re “D.A. Won’t Try Officer in Flashlight Beating Case,” Feb. 4: After reading that the district attorney’s office will not file criminal charges against LAPD Officer John Hatfield, who used a flashlight to strike Stanley Miller during his arrest, I have lost all faith in that office. This along with the horrible decision in the Inglewood case in which a cop slammed the handcuffed suspect onto the trunk of the police car, then punched him, makes me sure that justice will rarely prevail when cops are brutal.

Cases such as these should be reviewed and prosecuted by the state attorney general and, when appropriate, by the U.S. Justice Department. The local district attorney is too close to the local cops to be unbiased. There are many good cops doing good jobs and they should not want this thug in a uniform. I can only hope that Hatfield is fired by the LAPD but....

Michael Mills

Long Beach

*

Community activist “Sweet” Alice Harris was disappointed and said regarding the decision, “What are we going to tell our young people?” How about starting with “Don’t steal cars” and follow it up with “Don’t run from police”?

Had the perpetrator followed this advice, the incident could have been avoided entirely.

Scott Cahill

Corona