Letters: Trutanich on fighting scalpers

Re “Stomping on scalpers,” Editorial, Aug. 12

In an editorial the day before the piece on scalpers appeared, The Times criticized the state for moving too slowly to reduce our prison population. I believe The Times was correct.

However, in the face of prison and jail overcrowding, The Times suggests that illegal ticket scalping should be solved through harsher but no longer available criminal sanctions. This type of quality-of-life crime by repeat offenders no longer results in meaningful jail time.

Prison overcrowding requires our prosecutors to identify other tools to protect our neighborhoods from “broken window” violations. Our scalping injunction is exactly the right tool. The 17 defendants have been cited roughly 100 times for scalping offenses. The injunction asks that they stay away from our entertainment venues or formally commit to end their illegal scalping.

Our injunction will unburden courtrooms and police and reduce the number of victims of aggressive scalping, all without sending more people to jail.

Carmen A. Trutanich

Los Angeles

The writer is the Los Angeles city attorney.

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