When police tactics backfire

Re “Interrogation, then revenge,” Column One, July 2

I read with disgust the tactics these two L.A. “peace officers” used to try to persuade their suspect to confess.

Do they teach these methods in the Police Academy? Tell a suspect anything and name anyone as a “snitch,” even a 16-year-old girl who did not point the finger at anyone, making her a target for hard-core gangsters? She paid for their efforts with her life. There is going to be a very large lawsuit and settlement because these two detectives would say anything to try to get this guy to talk.

How many times has this same thing happened? This is not good police work. The officers’ actions caused this young girl’s death, and they should be held accountable. I am not anti-police, but this is definitely over the line.

Robert Jones

Santa Maria

Although detectives showing a suspect photos with a witness’ initials or any other descriptive information is inadvisable in many instances, gang cases, interrogations, suspects and facts are more complex than The Times makes this case out to be.

Your article is biased against the detectives, mocks them and wastes a lot of space on oversimplification and finger-pointing.

Steve Meister

Sherman Oaks

In the last decade-plus, we’ve seen the merciless beating of Rodney King, the Rampart scandal and the investigation of O.J. Simpson -- so botched that nobody will ever know if he did it. In the last week, we have read about the murder of Martha Puebla and the Guillermo Alarcon Jr. case being thrown out of court because of alleged police misconduct.

Many defend the Los Angeles Police Department with the “few bad apples” argument, but when does a pattern start to develop? Is the LAPD just incompetent, or is it immoral and completely dishonorable?

The powers that be must do something -- if not for the public safety issue, how about for the fiscal issue? How much has the city of Los Angeles paid to people who were victims of LAPD misbehavior?

Bill Homann

San Marcos