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I produce two weekly news programs for KUCR-FM, a radio station based at the University of California at Riverside, which is heard throughout the "Inland Empire" and beyond in Southern California. We have covered the Miller shooting since the day after it occurred. There are a number of disturbing police incidents not reported in Lori Leibovich's story, including one some months ago where four white officers took a homeless Latino to a park at night, beat him and threw him in the lake. Many here are very concerned about the "culture" of the police department and feel that a full audit of the department is in order, which would penetrate the code of silence and assess hiring, screening, training, supervision, ethnic representation and discipline. Mayor Ron Loveridge is widely respected as intelligent, honest and highly competent. But Police Chief Carroll did not inspire confidence when he declared some few days after the shooting, "There's no doubt she was going for the gun." By making this statement before the facts were known, he married himself to the officers' conflicted account of what occurred, and eliminated himself as objective and credible. Not releasing relevant information, such as the 911 tapes, has left many of us wondering what it is they're hiding. In sum, this awful incident and its aftermath will serve as an object lesson for future police chiefs as how not to handle a crisis of public confidence. -- Louis Van den Berg Riverside, Calif. If the point of Lori Leibovich's article is that Riverside's cops screwed up, but they have a history of screwing up, then the point is taken. If the point is that the Riverside cops, like many police departments, need stronger oversight, then again she's hit something. If the point is that race played no role in the shooting of a young woman in a parked car (and that, by extension, those who claim that race does play a role are pushing their own agenda), well, she's failed to make the point, and has written an article worthy of any corporate stooge paper. I expect better from Salon. -- Michael Treece It is on Page 4 of this article that the real cause of the problems with police is explained. The "war on drugs" and the proliferation of cheap handguns, along with citizen apathy, have enabled police to become overzealous in their pursuit of "criminals." How many of the so-called criminals one sees on "Cops" are actually people just like Tyisha Miller, David Bruner or you and I? Shows like "Cops" or the network fictional shows ("NYPD Blues") attempt to persuade people that the police are heroes just doing their jobs. Here in Sacramento, we've had a number of innocent bystanders killed during high-speed police chases. Usually the cops are pursuing teenagers in stolen vehicles. Most of the time the stolen vehicles are trashed or just not worth much. Is it worth the death of innocents to recover cars of questionable worth? Likewise, does the proliferation of cheap guns give the police the excuse to fire at will, for their own protection? I felt much safer in England, where the police are not armed, and in Holland, where despite being armed, the police seem to hold respect of the citizenry in much higher regard than we do here in America. -- Jeffrey F Jennings Sacramento, Calif. SALON | Feb. 12, 1999

R E C E N T L Y+| THE VANILLA STORY BY JAMES PONIEWOZIK

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