LAPD Recruitment

* In “LAPD Must Reorganize Its Recruitment” (Commentary, Nov. 22), L.A. Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski discussed the difficulty the LAPD is having finding qualified recruits. She suggested that maybe we should reexamine so-called “soft disqualification” (i.e., bad credit, integrity issues--pesky things like that).

It bothers me, because there was a time that we had no problem getting applicants. The selection process was very, very difficult, but people lined up for the job. The city ended up with the best of the best, even if the pay wasn’t that great.

Then, a while back, the LAPD become politically incorrect, and lots of people lined up to change it, to advance their various careers. The selection process was relaxed and the city gave badges to criminals like Rafael Perez and David Mack. Problem officers started popping up, and now we have a consent decree. Frankly, at this point, who would want the job? Who would want to be treated the way we are treating our officers today? The solution is not to lower the qualifications further, it is to keep the officers from leaving in the first place.

MICHAEL SELLARS

Woodland Hills