Letter: Charging a dime might deter thieves

Re: “Your paper has not gone away” (Editorial, Feb. 15). A Police Department spokesperson informed me that it is not a crime to take as many free papers from an outside rack as one wants, but it is criminal theft to pay, if so required, only once, i.e., to open the rack, but then remove more than one paper.

So, why not charge a minimal 10 cents — one thin dime — for each Glendale News-Press legally removed from an outside, stand-alone newspaper rack? This would hopefully deter would-be thieves, both criminally and economic incentive wise, from paying only once and then making an illegal grab for more than one paper in the rack.

Outside racks have the best, most convenient hours of availability as well. Take the stand-alone rack located on the southeast corner of Harvard and Louise, for example. A longtime Glendale resident friend of mine regularly goes on the hunt for a News-Press quite early in the morning. Now, she knows full well that the Glendale Central Library, located across the street from that rack, doesn’t even open until 10 a.m, while the business actually located on that corner itself doesn’t open until (at least) 8 a.m., plus it’s not open at all on Saturdays.

Just a suggestion.

Harvey Pearson
Los Feliz