LAPD and FBI: A Turnabout of Scrutiny

Re “At Last, Eyes on the FBI,” editorial, Dec. 23: Finally someone is shedding some light on how inept our federal law enforcement agencies are. Maybe if the Justice Department (which includes the FBI, INS and ATF) paid more attention to its primary missions--like counter-terrorism and the tracking and deportation of aliens, instead of chasing around local police departments--it is entirely plausible to believe that Sept. 11 would never have happened.

A few weeks ago, an FBI spokesperson said in reference to the closing of the Rampart Division corruption scandal that the FBI has still not given the LAPD “a clean bill of health.” The American people should not give the FBI a clean bill of health either. And now that the Justice Department has forced an extremely expensive consent decree on this city’s Police Department, why shouldn’t our city leaders attempt to recoup the moneys lost in providing police services to the illegal aliens the Justice Department is supposed to prevent from coming here?

Patrick Aluotto

Woodland Hills