Thank you, Samantha, for fast, agenda-free crime reporting. What a breath of fresh air.

Part 1:

Dear Ms. Page:

I would like to respond to your September 5, 2011 "Home Invasion Suspect Eludes Capture in Venice on Monday Night" at Venice Patch.com.

Apparently, during the LAPD manhunt in Venice on September 5, 2011, some of the LAPD officers knew who they were looking for, and some other LAPD officers did not even know what the suspect looked like. Here's a little tip for LAPD top brass: When you shut down half a city and go on a massive search for a suspect, it always helps when all of the LAPD officers involved in the search are on the same page and know who they are searching for.

During the LAPD lockdown and manhunt in Venice, my girlfriend, her 13-year-old boy, and I were walking down Pacific Ave. toward Santa Monica Blvd. somewhere between Westminster Ave. and Rose Ave. We were walking to get back to my car parked in Santa Monica and could not take the bus because the LAPD lockdown caused the buses to be diverted. I have lived in the Los Angeles area for decades, but I have to say that LAPD massive search was like nothing I had ever seen. We saw the helicopter, blocked streets, and countless marked and unmarked LAPD vehicles speeding down the wrong side of the road on Pacific Ave. The massive LAPD presence in Venice was truly impressive.

Part 2:

While we were walking down the sidewalk on Pacific Ave., a Caucasian, female LAPD officer who was by herself near her patrol car detained my girlfriend's 13-year-old boy and demanded that he pull down his shirt so that she could see if he had any tattoos on his chest. I was shocked and thought how degrading that must have felt for the boy. I was wondering if LAPD was searching for a suspect who closely matched the boy's description.

So, when I read your Patch.com article and saw that "the suspect is a 30-year-old Hispanic man with a 'Venice' tattoo across his chest," I felt even more disgusted about the LAPD officer's degrading treatment of my girlfriend's 13-year-old boy. I mean why would some Caucasian LAPD officer discriminate against a Latino, 13-year-old boy walking with two respectable adults, detain him, and force him to take his shirt down so that the officer could see his chest? Did the LAPD officer have the requisite probable cause to detain and search the boy's body just because he is Latino? The Caucasian LAPD officer who subjected the 13-year-old boy to this dehumanizing treatment either was ignorant of who the LAPD was searching for (i.e., a known 30-year-old gang member, parolee, and MAN, not a 13-year-old, clean-cut boy with his parents) or was acting like a racist.

Part 3:

I now better understand why many non-Caucasians in Los Angeles feel discriminated against and have little or no respect for some LAPD officers. I did not appreciate this as much before because I am Caucasian and am not subjected to the same type of discrimination affecting Latinos and other races

How shameful! And the home invasion suspect eluded capture? What a joke! Next time, LAPD should all know who they are looking for. This was a MANhunt, not a little BOYhunt!

Thank you very much for your informative article and your attention.

Regards,

[Name deleted]
Encino, CA

cc: Debra J. McCarthy, Deputy Chief (LAPD Operations-West Bureau)
Matt Blake, Captain III (LAPD Operations-West Bureau)
Jon F. Peters, Captain III (LAPD Pacific Community Police Station)
Gary W. Walters, Captain I (LAPD Pacific Community Police Station)
Drex Heikes, Editor in Chief, LA Weekly
Dennis Romero, Staff Writer, LA Weekly

Stonepiller, stop your belly ackin and man up. This is the right medicine for Venice. The LAPD is not racist. Just doing the job. Stop stiring the pot. Crawl back to the valley dude!.

Steve Jones,

When the LAPD is on a MANhunt for a 30-year-old parolee, gang member, and MAN they know, it is "the right medicine for Venice" to stop, detain, and search the body of a clean-cut, 13-year-old boy walking with his respectable parents? The LAPD "is just doing the job" by violating the civil rights of a U.S. citizen not to be subjected to an unlawful detention and search without probable cause?

Oh, the LAPD officer had probable cause because the boy is Latino too? LAPD officers from the LAPD Pacific Community Police Station who know the 30-year-old gang member also know that the 13-year-old boy was not the suspect LAPD was searching for.

I don't know where you are from. But here in the U.S., we have something called the Constitution and civil rights. I guess you like it where citizens don't have a right to be left alone by racist police officers.

You have the freedom to be in that place.

Oh, no, not again, Mr. Cofo! Was that a comment on the reporting or on the police description of the perp? Not sure, are ya? Neither is anyone else!

But y'all sure raised a flag all right!

Speaking of which - following the context of Encino's letter, submitted a mere nine minutes after your change of subject, Encino might be interested to know that Venice has seen more than a few civil rights encroachments in the last year or two.

Someone certainly has Venice on their map.

Not meaning to change the subject, let's get back to the matter at hand:

Accusing a news report of race prejudice for quoting a police description is silly at best. But since y'all mention it, a perceived failure to honor the "right to be left alone" that rightly concerns Encino is nothing compared to the roustings ordered throughout Venice against an entire class of U.S. citizens.

Kind of takes us back to "Someone certainly has Venice on their map," doesn't it?

Yeah, total BS. I was drunk riding my motorcycle up from Washington to score some smack. I had to park on Brooks and walk a few extra blocks. When I asked the bacon what happened they just told me to move along. Real jerks if you ask me.