To the editor: You have to read a ways into the analysis (“LAPD cops shot 21 bystanders in 10 years. How does it keep happening?” March 12) to learn that “roughly half of the incidents identified by The Times involved confrontations with people in behavioral crises.”
The reality of life in Los Angeles these days is that these people are everywhere. Not necessarily evil (but definitely damaged), they represent a general threat to the public, and when firearms are involved they present a major problem for those hired to protect us.
It’s easy to point the finger at the police, but when shots are fired, what are they supposed to do? It isn’t hard to figure out why the ranks of people joining the Los Angeles Police Department continue to decline. No, I don’t think incarceration is going to solve anything, but we need to look at the bigger picture. It affects us all.
Peter Marquard, Northridge
