MAILBAG - March 14, 2008

Police waste money pursuing homeless

Your article “Fun with crime” (“Lumberyard Logs,” March 7) was great fun to read and so true. I have been here since 1982, and nothing has changed. I have been sending the Laguna Beach Police Blotters to my family in Fresno as entertainment as well.

This letter however, is not the fun side of the police department but one of blatant misuses of taxpayers’ dollars. On three occasions that I know of personally the Laguna Beach Police Department spent as much as $17,000 to send residentially challenged individuals to Orange County Jail for charges the judge hearing the cases not only dismissed but laughed at. One particular incident cost them a mere $15,750 (cost accountant estimate), and was nothing short of ludicrous.

There were four residentially challenged individuals sitting at the Laguna Beach Bus Depot with an open container of beer. A Laguna Beach Police supervisor and partner pulled up and asked them to pour it out, and they complied.

Twenty minutes later they circled back to the depot and a cup with less than 1 inch of beer in it was poured out when they were spotted and the empty cup set back on the bench between two individuals.

One of the two was arrested for drinking in public and sent to jail more as personal vendetta of the supervisor involved than a true crime in progress.

Calling for backup, there were now four officers involved with salaries ranging from $55,000 to $80,000 per year for a half hour.

The Laguna Beach booking procedure took five hours and two officers. Transporting this heinous criminal to Orange County Jail used a police vehicle and two officers. Ahhh, but first this particular individual needed medical clearance so it was off to South Coast Medical [Center] at the city’s expense for a stay in the ER for another two hours and medical test and meds. Upon reaching the O.C. jail, the officers turned over the criminal to the Sheriff’s Department who took half an hour to book. This individual was waiting for medical clearance from jail medical staff and during that 20-minute period of time a sheriff’s deputy walked up to the criminal and said “You’re not staying with us and you will be free to leave as soon as the paper work here is done,” and off she went only with an appearance date.

The unfortunate part of this incident is that it is not the only one “” just read the blotter and think of all the money being spent, on what?

All of this said, the Laguna Beach Police Department is spending its money (your money) wisely; Officer Jason Farris, the community outreach officer, has managed to place several residentially challenged individuals who were living on the street into programs that will work for them. The message here is to get to know the root of the problems, don’t just throw money at it, standing in the dark and complaining.

PEGI M. LOPEZ

Laguna Beach

Global warming blamed for cold and snow

We had a summery weekend Feb. 9 and 10, but I’ve been cold all during December, January and the rest of February. Hasn’t it been cold?

Not just cold here. Take a look at recent headlines:

Unusual, but it snowed in Baghdad, Iraq. CNN, Jan. 11; “Let it Snow.... in Baghdad.”

Unusual, but it snowed in Jerusalem, Israel. Jerusalem Post, Jan. 29; “J’lem meltdown begins after snowstorm.”

Unusual, but it snowed in Athens, Greece. Associated Press, Feb. 18, “Heavy snow cuts off Greek villages, disrupts air traffic in Turkey, Athens.”

China has experienced a very cold winter. Feb. 4, Yahoo, “China battles coldest winter in 100 years.”

Does all this refute claims of global warming? Of course not, it’s the tiniest set of data.

From such a small amount a data, it would be unscientific to draw such a conclusion.

There are some that are quite unscientific among us.

A Feb. 13 article from the Business and Media Institute, “Sen. Kerry Blames Tornadoes on Global Warming” says the “Former Democratic presidential nominee blames ‘intense storms’ that have killed more than 50 on climate change.”

The article reports that “Kerry appeared on MSNBC on Feb. 6 to discuss storms that have killed at least 50 people throughout the Southeastern United States.”

GENE FELDER