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Town:
Compton Resident, Carson Car Dealership Help Youth and The Poor, One Car at a
Time
Growing Pains: Eminent Domain Pitting City Against Small Business Owner
Low Enrollment a Challenge at Compton Education Center
Council Approves Multi-million Dollar Bond Issue to Fund Public Projects
City’s Credit Rating Bumped Up a Notch
Compton Water Officials Say Tap Water’s OK
Dominguez High Football Star, USC Recruit Arrested for Robbery
Earl
Ofari Hutchinson:
Black Voters Alone Won’t Put Obama in the White House
Letters to the Editor
Dear
Editor:
Several years ago, elected officials from the city of West Hollywood
made a complaint about the treatment of gays by deputies of the Los Angeles
County Sheriff Department. The officials complained that deputies from
the West Hollywood station had targeted gays during a sting operation.
Not only did Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca immediately remove the
deputies, he went even further by replacing the station captain. Also,
these changes were made without a complete investigation.
Can someone please explain to me why Compton’s mayor has not been
afforded the same respect and dignity of his office? Let us not simply
dismiss the mayor’s concern as petty. It does not happen in other
contract communities.
I find it a bit peculiar that Sheriff Lee Baca and Asst. Sheriff
Tanaka met with Compton’s city manager to discuss “rumors” the
city had hired a consulting firm to bring back Compton Police Department.
At least the city manager met with them. Just remember, by the time Compton’s
residents knew anything about the possible disbanding of Compton Police
Department, the Sheriff’s Department had already had new patrol vehicles
emblazoned with the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department emblem and prepared
to patrol Compton’s streets.
Sheriff Lee Baca and then Captain Chuck Jackson were never honest
and forthcoming with the citizens of Compton. They were not forthcoming
then and it appears the Sheriff’s Department is not now. They
promised the citizens of Compton any and everything. We were told the level
of contracted deputies would be sufficient to patrol the streets of
Compton.
To hear Captain Ryan suggest that getting rid of the Sheriff Department
would have a disastrous effect on the advances they have made is utterly
ridiculous and insulting. In fact, what have you done? When I
look at the crime statistics I see some impressive numbers. That is until
I see how many crimes have actually been solved!!!! Jill Leovy of the Los
Angeles Times Homicide Report recently asked, during a radio program, a
very important question: How many murderers are on the streets in Los Angeles
county? If homicide and assault cases are still open, guess who is among
us?
This is a department that is heavy on public relations, but weak
on substance. I too had a concern as to the inclusion of Suge Knight’s
name on Compton’s first gang injunction. If you would go this far
to embarrass Compton’s mayor, what would you do to Compton’s
citizens? But what is new? What other city do you know of in Los Angeles
county where a former station captain runs against the incumbent mayor?
And now the Sheriff Department is scratching its collective heads
wondering why there is not a better relationship with Compton’s elected
officials.
Let me also remind the readers of this newspaper that we still have
a convicted felon still dribbling his assertions that Compton Police Department
was corrupt. Former Mayor Omar Bradley has not once named a corrupt officer.
How dare he besmirch the honor of officers who served Compton well. The
timing of the resurrection and emergence of Omar Bradley and his comic
book is eerie. By the way, never once have I heard Sheriff Lee Baca raise
his voice in support of the officers his department took on from Compton
Police Department. Can I ask him what do you really think?
Ironically, at the same time Compton’s former convicted mayor was
meeting with Sheriff Lee Baca to dissolve Compton Police Department, Omar
Bradley and his convicted patriots were involved in a nefarious
and diabolical scheme to drain Compton’s resources.
This is not about what law enforcement agency will patrol Compton.
It is about the right of Compton to decide what is best for the community’s
growth and prosperity. We do not want a referendum. We want action and
a commitment to earnestly study the issue. Royce Esters is correct when
he asserts the citizens need local control. This is how you change communities.
The idea of a metropolitan police department is quite creative and innovative.
Let me remind Sheriff Lee Baca that when the citizens begged and
cried for you to let the residents vote on the issue of disbanding
Compton Police Department, you refused to listen. Since you had the vote
of Compton’s city council, you certainly did not feel it was necessary
for you to come to the community. Should I remind you that two of them
are now convicted felons, as well as the former city manager?
Shame on you!!! Why do you now want to bypass the Compton’s duly
elected officials?
—Robert Sampson
Compton resident
Dear Editor:
I hope that this get printed. First of all, how come if the mayor
is going to have a study conducted regarding bringing back our own PD,
how come he don’t do a sit down and get the issues out with the
Sheriff’s Department first if he hasn’t already?
And once that is done and there’s no compliance from LASD, yes,
drop them like hot rocks. Now, if they’re trying give hope a chance.
I am for our own, but do we have the money? Then I see where he said
in the council meeting that MLES, the school (police) department and
the college (police) department, he wants to combine them as metro police.
That’s fine; do the city have the money to send the MLES code
enforcement officers as well as the security officers to the extended
academy since its policy that those men and women have to have a basic
post in order to get their jobs? if I am wrong, someone please reply
and correct me.
You have the code enforcement officers writing citation like the
Sheriff but only misdemeanors. That’s fine. How come the Sheriff
don’t work very close with our own people and not treat them like
dirt. Yes, I said that.
Next, I was at the hamburger stand and watched and heard the whole
thing when the code enforcement officers called LASD to have a deputy
respond to assist them, not to harasses them. The older code officer
I think was the supervisor. He was trying to talk to the deputy, but
the deputy was rude, nasty and outright not professional with a city
employee. Why? And when it got very heated, the code supervisor advised
his guys to walk away before it got out of hand, and this deputy called
a battalion of other deputies to come to his rescues – for what?
Was he that scared? If he was in fear, as the cops say, he needs a new
profession like plumbing. Why would a code enforcement officer put his
job on the line and threaten a cop when they have some of the same license
from a academy, why?
Why does it seem to a lot of Compton citizens that almost every deputy
in a patrol car is playing politics? What is it they want to gain from
this? Why do they dislike our officers so much ? Why is the mayor and
the council sitting back on their butts and allowing this to happen
over and over again? Do you see code enforcement trying to be L.A. County?
No! But you see now almost every deputy trying to be a code enforcement
officer. How come the Sheriff’s Departmet wants everyone to depend
on them when they don’t care about our city? They don’t
even fake it. At least if you fake it we would feel more at ease and
might rally to keep them.
But to do things like what I seen a few weeks back and call all of
those resources out their over a verbal dispute between two professionals
and one was a supervisor from the city of Compton code enforcement?
Why does this agency hate our city so much? Why is it when a feedback
comes through that tells the truth, The Bulletin will not print it?
How come the MLES department doesn’t rely on the school (police)
department more, who I see from time to time back each other up on certain
calls? How come we don’t have our own people patrol the parks?
I see all of our guys stuck at a city building. If they need help, who
will they call on for help? Certainly not LASD. For what? It will take
them more than two-plus hours. It’s not important to them what
our officers want or if they get hurt. I see it as lets allow it to
happen and we will say I told you so.
Once again, why are our elected officials allowing their officers
to be treated like this? We know Councilman Hall wouldn’t care
less about them – remember, he is one of them, not one of us.
Not a citizen to the heart. LASD is his family, not the city of Compton.
Maybe we the citizens, the seniors, have to fight for our own officers
and for our own department back!.
—A concerned Compton citizen
Editor’s
Note:
The Bulletin does not censor letters to the editor submitted by members
of the community. Any citizen is entitled to voice concern, question actions
taken by public officials or otherwise express views, whether or not the
newspaper staff agrees with the position taken by the writer.
CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR LETTER
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