Mailbag: Police need more resources to really fight crime

I want to start this letter by saying that what I have learned in this journey of being victimized and our home burglarized is that the police do not have the resources to do their job — “protect and serve.” They do not have enough police, enough equipment to handle the solving of crimes, or a willingness to work between jurisdictional lines. What you see on those cop shows is very far from the real world.

Here I was very excited when a friend called me and said to get a copy of the Glendale News-Press, as he thought the woman I encountered at my home four days prior to the burglary was one of the three suspected “knock-knock burglars” caught in Glendale (“Burglary suspects arrested,” May 5).

As soon as I saw the picture I was thrilled. It was her. For three days I tried to contact the detective handling the case to tell him I could identify one of the suspects. After numerous attempts, when I talked with the detective in charge and asked what they found when they issued a search warrant on each of these ladies’ homes, he said they weren’t going to.

They worked their case and took the women to court after they allegedly unsuccessfully tried to break into a home in Glendale, he said.

I said, “Why wouldn’t you issue a search warrant to solve more crimes?” He said they didn’t have the time and that I had to reach the detective who was handling my case to do it.

After a number of phone calls and finally talking with my detective, it’s a month later and I still don’t know if they ever searched the homes.

These women are accused of being responsible for burglaries from Orange County to the San Fernando Valley. How many cases could be solved by finding some of the stolen goods and why wouldn’t the various police departments want to do this?

They are overworked, have had overtime taken away and have very limited resources. Without the public’s help to volunteer and government officials helping to direct more resources, we will potentially encounter higher crime, fewer resolutions and an ineffective police force.

So my next calls will be to the captain of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, then Sheriff Lee Baca, our local officials and anyone else who can help. If you have been a victim of a crime and did not get resolution, please call, too. It will help to not make you feel like a victim and the more voices, the more potential change for the positive.

Mary Hanson

Glendale

To the man driving the white Mercedes SUV who sent his children up to steal avocados from my tree, I say “shame on you” for setting such a bad example.

My, how Glendale has changed!

Joanne Shader

Glendale

Several months ago, I wrote about the spring beauty of the Verdugos and the three types of litterers that particularly incensed me — smokers, tissue droppers and organic litter slobs (“Litter ruins nature’s abundant beauty,” May 22). I forgot another that readily earns my wrath, too — wildflower pluckers.

Several weeks ago on the Las Flores Motorway, I saw for the first time along that road a single lovely large-flowered phacelia in bloom. I’ve only seen one other over the years during my hiking the Verdugos. Disgustingly, a week or two later, that single plant was gone and its wilted flowers were strewn along the road by some idiot.

Similarly, a couple of years ago I was pleased to note several California poppy plants in bloom at the top of the Las Flores road by the water tank. A week later as I approached the top, two men were walking down the road grasping the poppies that they had yanked out of the ground. These were some of the very few poppies I’ve seen on my walks and were, of course, never seen there again.

A few weeks ago I happily told my wife when I got back from my weekly hike that I’d seen the first delicate white sage flowers of the season. She said, “I know, I just saw a man on my walk who was carrying two stalks of the flowers down the hill.”

I must add to those numskulls who rip off and collect bunches of various wildflowers that quickly wilt and get tossed on the ground. It deprives others not only of the flowers’ beauty, but the chance for the flowers to set seed and show up again with next winter’s rains.

Once again I plead with those who hike our hills: Don’t leave your brains behind when you come hike our hills. Treat the hills with the respect and take care that their beauty, flora and fauna are preserved so we can all continue to enjoy their undiminished beauty year after year.

This just in: On my wife’s hill walk this morning she came across the disturbing sight of a snake with its head smashed in. Whether it was a rattler or not, please don’t kill any snakes, as they are all very important partners in preserving the ecological balance of our hills.

Robert Morrison

Glendale