Tagger Slain by Armed Citizen

Re “Tagger’s Slayer Won’t Be Charged,” Feb. 3:

I am greatly relieved that William Andrew Masters II will not be prosecuted for manslaughter for defending himself against taggers who were threatening him. I am, however, disturbed by what his sister said: “He did something that was none of his business--as usual.” The reason crime is so rampant is this “none of my business” attitude that prevails today.

I am not endorsing vigilantism, but writing down a license plate number or taking a description and reporting it to police is not above our responsibility to society. If criminals know they are likely to get caught thanks to the alert involvement of witnesses, crime is less likely to occur.

I applaud Masters for getting involved, although it came to an unfortunate end.

DAVID BUNJAC

Culver City

* The execution of Cesar Rene Arce in Sun Valley is odious. The killer is definitely not heroic. All the murderer has done is deeply pained the Arce family and friends.

The taking of young Cesar’s life for whatever small-minded reason is a deprivation of a human being’s life!

This unknown actor deserves to be admonished for alerting taggers not now carrying guns to do so! (What if a tagger in his, or the next, neighborhood discharges a weapon in self-defense thinking the other person will shoot first?)

My true feelings are that this was a racist act by an obscure actor.

JUAN CALDERON

Cerritos

* Misdemeanor laws are virtually unenforced on the public streets, especially in residential areas. There is little or no prosecution of misdemeanor illegal activity, such as vandalism, street drug dealing, prostitution, urinating in public, littering, speeding (especially on residential streets), public consumption of alcohol, etc. Consequently, these activities are now commonplace in all but the most affluent neighborhoods.

Those of us who still believe in obeying the law are forced to involuntarily witness flagrant illegal activity on our residential streets, alleys and parks. It destroys our faith in our government, as well as our peace of mind.

As our local government fails to restrain misdemeanor illegal activity, the choices for law-abiding residents are: move out of the Los Angeles area (for those able to afford it), retreat, alienated, into our homes or try to deal with neighborhood criminals ourselves. I am dismayed that the first two choices force law-abiding citizens to lose the use of their neighborhood, while the third choice will create more and more confrontations as the one between the taggers and Masters.

There is more to public safety than controlling felonies. Residents must also be assured of an acceptable quality of life in their neighborhoods.

BETSY BREDAU

Long Beach

* The outcry in support of Masters should be a wake-up call to all taggers and would-be taggers that we citizens hate graffiti. But this same outcry should not sway the district attorney from carrying out his public duty. Perhaps under the letter of the law, murder charges have been mitigated, but there is still the issue of an illegally armed individual walking the public streets.

If the community-based policing is to succeed, we citizens must act as the eyes and ears of our Police Department, not the trigger finger.

PETER HANKOFF

Los Angeles