Police Protective League Seeks LAPD Reforms

“Pick the Best Chief, Period” (editorial, July 29) says little about what’s needed at the LAPD but speaks volumes about your animus toward the department and the 8,000-plus men and women who daily risk their lives to keep you safe. In a poll conducted in January, 93% of rank-and-file officers of the LAPD voted “no confidence” in Chief Bernard Parks. You called that--and the resulting Police Protective League campaign for a new chief--a hardball tactic. We call it democracy in action.

We think that all Los Angeles residents agree that we need safe streets; we need a Police Department that operates in partnership with our community; we need to cut crime; we need to continue reform; and we need more officers to get our department up to full strength.

You claimed that our members dread reform. The league has long fought for, and continues to fight for, numerous departmental reforms, with the full support of our members. No one wants a safer and more secure Los Angeles than those of us who are out there every day, around the clock, protecting the residents of our city. And we will continue to work toward that end no matter what The Times says about us.

Mitzi Grasso

President, Los Angeles

Police Protective League