Police Commission’s ruling in Brown case

Re “Playing politics with cops’ safety,” Current, Feb. 5

Jack Dunphy’s article on the brave and principled decision of the Los Angeles Police Commission to take action against the officer who pumped numerous bullets into 13-year-old Devin Brown is repugnant.

Government violence against its own citizens is far more heinous than individual violence because it sets the tone for the country, which is probably one of the most violent in the world. Can you name one teenage white youth living in south Orange County in a gated community or in Beverly Hills who was killed by police in a shower of bullets while driving unarmed? That it is always black and brown men who are gunned down by police says something more about the racist nature of the “justice” system than it does about the guilt or innocence of the nonwhite victims the police are gunning down.

PATRICIA J. BARRY

Los Angeles

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I hope that L.A. residents are outraged by the Police Commission ruling in the Brown case. It should be a city mandate that all commissioners complete the LAPD’s rigorous training and spend 18 months as a street rookie with a bounty on his head. Maybe then they would have the proper respect for the thousands of men and women who place their own lives in danger for citizens they don’t even know.

TERRI NOLAN

San Clemente