PUBLIC FORUM.

Victims

Re ``Mourning a life, death'' (Feb. 16):

My son is 13 years old and asleep during pre-dawn hours, not out committing grand theft auto. I know the Nation of Islam wants to call it ``joy riding,'' but let's call it what it is, car theft, and a high-speed chase. The police didn't know the boy was 13; he could have been 30. He was using the stolen car as a weapon to back into the police, he was involved in gang activity, and now he's the victim.

I think the Los Angeles Police Department is the victim in this case. Their hands are so tied up about whom to shoot and when to shoot, and what to shoot, they might as well be issued water pistols. While we can mourn the loss of any child, the mother needed to take responsibility for her son and make sure he was in bed and asleep during those pre-dawn hours.

- Wayne Wolaver

North Hills

Easy way out

Re ``Funeralgoers call for 'cease-fire' by LAPD'' (Feb. 16):

Why in God's name would anyone want to be a police officer in Los Angeles? If Devin Brown ran over and killed one of the police officers or crashed into another car, killing any of the innocent occupants, would these horn-blowers be looking for justice? Absolutely not. Where is the outcry from the Nation of Islam threatening to hold the parents of these children responsible for their actions?

No, let's take the easy way out, and blame everyone but those who should take the blame. Chief Bratton should have learned from the last three or four chiefs that no one will ever support you in this so-called City of Angels, and all of the politicians will turn their back on you in a heartbeat, especially during an election year.

- Steve Patterson 

Santa Clarita 

First defense

Re ``Mourning a life, death'' (Feb. 16):

When will the tired, hate-mongering crowd stop screaming ``racism'' at every turn, regardless of the truth? What happened to personal responsibility? Did Devin Brown deserve to die? Absolutely not. But why isn't anyone in the community examining why a 13-year-old kid is out in the middle of the night stealing a car?

Why is their first defense to always play the race card? And why ignore that the crime was committed and instead use the playful term ``joy riding?''

- Sue Antico

Canyon Country

No joy

Re ``Mourning a life, death'' (Feb. 16):

``Joy riding.'' I hate that word; what a lie it is. Where is the joy in having to bury a 13-year-old boy? Where is the joy in having to chase that boy through the streets and shoot him down? Where is the joy in having the family car stolen, missing school and work, filling out police and insurance forms, riding the bus and renting cars for 30 days knowing you'll be on the hook for repair costs, city fees and impound charges? Where is the joy when the car is totaled, or lost, and you can't afford a new one?

There is no joy in joy riding; the fact is, it's really grand theft, it's victimizing hard-working citizens and vilifying our police for doing their job. Joy riding is a serious crime, and giving it a cute name, or blaming the police is not going to stop the problem.

- Michael Guetzow

Woodland Hills

How could they know?

Re ``Community mourns boy's death'' (Feb. 15):

I am so tired of hearing ``why did the cops shoot a 13-year-old boy?'' They could never have known the age of the person in that stolen car, acting like a felon and trying to ram a police car. Where is the outrage against the parents and family that allowed a 13-year-old to be out in the street all night, stealing cars?

I am sick and tired of the police being blamed. Let's hold the parents of gangbangers and underage thieves out at night responsible, too. Don't have children if you don't want to be responsible for their upbringing for 21 years.

- Heidi Johnston

Castaic

Recovery to what?

Re ``Jacko hospitalized with flu'' (Feb. 16):

I don't know what makes me sicker, having the flu this week or hearing that Michael Jackson was rushed to the emergency room after having been struck down with the flu.

Then, to add nausea, hearing the doctor who treated him saying he is in stable condition and should make a full recovery. A full recovery to what? How about rushing him to Bellvue and taking all the media idiots with him?

- Mitch Sternbach

West Hills

Knabe responds

Re ``Passing the buck won't pass muster on hospital'' (Their Opinions, Feb. 11):

I'd like to say the only county supervisor passing the buck and who is not willing to look at all the options to save our failing health system is Mike Antonovich. Clearly, the status quo for our health system has failed us and we need new, creative solutions to the serious problems ailing our public hospitals. The other four members of the Board of Supervisors realize the Los Angeles County health system has serious issues.

To solve them, we may need the experts to provide us with solutions to review and implement. Everything must be on the table to consider. I will not support a health authority that is merely a buffer between the Board of Supervisors and the department. Nor has any member of the board committed to supporting a health authority. What four of us have done is to ask the tough questions and keep an open mind.

- Don Knabe

Supervisor

County of Los Angeles

Going backward

Re ``Intelligence officials say al-Qaida is still a threat'' (Feb. 17):

Now the CIA - Bush's CIA - says that the more we fight in Iraq, the more terrorists we create. We have killed 100,000 (according to Johns Hopkins University) to 200,000 (The Lancet) people, and spent hundreds of billions of dollars, in order to go backward.

- Kim Iannone

West Hills

Social agenda

Re ``CalPERS going public on pension plan'' (Feb. 16):

By their vote on Monday, the California pension fund signaled Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and other carmakers that it was going to make investment decisions about the firms, using the criteria of whether they were complying with California's new greenhouse gas emission standards regulations.

Considering that the automobile companies have filed suit, contending the state cannot regulate fuel use in cars, the social agenda of California's Public Employees' Retirement System of using its clout as a big investor to try to force the companies to abide by the law is way out of line. CalPERS' task is to manage the retirement investment for California government workers, not be the police for the social cause of the season, no matter how meritorious the cause is.

- Linda Okun

Glendora

We get that much?

Re ``Feds picking California's pocket'' (Feb. 12):

The writer seemed genuinely amazed that California receives only 79 cents back for every dollar sent to Washington, D.C. I find it incomprehensible that we get that much. After all, our Congress has monumental expenses, starting with their own salaries, perks and retirement packages, followed by farm subsidies, private and corporate welfare, plus foreign aid and huge loans to the World Bank and the monumental cost of policing the world.

Frankly, I am incredulous that our Washington representatives don't keep the 79 cents and return 21 cents to California.

- Sid Conkwright

Van Nuys

Not so bad

America is still not so bad. Even after the super-rich allow the middle class the crumbs of their leftovers.

- Jack Botwin

Sylmar