Take a ride with the LAPD
Re “Racial profiling in L.A.: the numbers don’t lie,” Opinion, Oct. 23
Nowhere do the statistics Ian Ayres cites reflect the individual facts that were developed in each situation -- and which led to the action of the officer involved. Ayres criticizes the arrests resulting from these frisks and searches, concluding that because there was an arrest disparity when the officer was a different race from the suspect, the arrests were invalid. What would have been useful was to follow up on the results of the arrests. How many resulted in charges filed or convictions?
What the ACLU is unwilling to admit is that Los Angeles Police Department officers are doing an extremely dangerous job under stressful conditions -- and with a very high degree of professionalism.
Tim Sands
Los Angeles
The writer is president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League.
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What a total waste of time and effort on the part of Ayres in his study of racial profiling by LAPD officers. Rather than keep his head buried in paperwork at Yale, perhaps he should spend several shifts riding with real street cops out here.
Until he gains a true understanding of what these well-trained and highly experienced officers know about their beats and the specific reasons for their contact with drivers and pedestrians, Ayres will remain a typical “ivory tower” thinker with no appreciation for reality.
Jim Weyant
Big Bear City
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