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Letters to the Editor: Two cops caught playing ‘Pokemon Go’ were fired. What if they had shot someone?

An LAPD patrol car rides along a street with stores
An LAPD patrol car rides along Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles in December in a file photo.
(Los Angeles Times)
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To the editor: Please tell me this is a joke. Is it April Fools’ Day? Obviously these officers playing “Pokemon Go” instead of responding to a call while on duty deserve some form of discipline.

However, people are routinely killed by police officers, and rarely are officers fired or even punished for doing so.

And a court upheld this! I guess playing a game while on duty is worse than killing someone. What does say about law enforcement? This is a statement of what’s considered normal for police.

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It is also a statement of how low we as citizens have gone. We have some responsibility for this by not insisting on enforcement of strong laws and consequences, as a group, for officers. We need to unite together to fight police violence as a group, not just along racial lines.

Right now, we citizens are divided. We would have more power if we all came together on this.

Robin Washington, Altadena

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To the editor: Between officers refusing to be vaccinated and playing games instead of responding to calls (“screw it” — really?), at what point does the Los Angeles Police Department realize that its hiring practices, including psychological screening, are subpar and that a house cleaning is in order?

What’s better: fewer police on the beat, but they’re good cops, or keeping the ones we have, even the bad eggs? I’ll take the former.

Barry Davis, Agoura Hills

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