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# City is under assault and we turn to our leaders
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/city-is-under-assault-and-we-turn-to-our-leaders-editor/
- Published: 2006-04-03T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T17:29:01.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Promenade, #archive-import, Homeless

*By Lori Emerson Santa Monica*

SMDP's Friday, March 31, edition contained a letter and an editorial about just how dangerous our city is. As the writings state, the transient problem continues to be first on the list of residents, businesses and tourists, but last on the list of our community leaders. Many thanks to David L. McCammon for writing in and sharing about his horrific experience in our little urinal by the sea. There is no record of the assault that occurred March 25 in the SMDP's weekly transient arrest blotter. That's probably because the victim did not have the time to wait for the police, to make a report, and then to have nothing accomplished by making it. (i.e. no arrest). If everyone assaulted by a vagrant made a police report, maybe statistics would provoke change.

Maybe the hours spent by the police on transient issues would be more noticeable by a record being made of each incident. Our city leaders might respond to numbers, since they don't respond to their constituents.

How scary, upsetting and life threatening does a stroll down the Promenade or a visit to a library have to be for our city leaders to wake up?

Now we have visitors that would have brought commerce to our community refusing to come back. And the City Council still does nothing? We have librarians that are afraid to go to work and we have the administrator of the library system saying everything is going to be OK when nothing substantial has been done to vamp up security. We have the husband of a victim writing in to clarify the seriousness of an attack on his wife who sustained serious injuries that were apparently down-played. The icing on the cake is that now we have Melvin Winston Hardy, a proven criminal, probably chomping at the bit to get out of jail so he can come back and resume his haunting of his victim and our community.

Just what else has to happen before the City Council will give the green light for our police force to actually enforce the laws and get rid of the crazy, impaired and dangerous bums? They are not homeless, they live here. It is incredible that no one in charge cares to make good on any previous election promises or community pleas for change. Council members continue to invite more bums to our city while directing the police to go easy on them by selectively enforcing laws that residents and businesses fought to get on the books.

Clearly city leaders are fine with the status-quo. They are fine with the proven increase in the transient population and using taxpayer dollars to aid and abet the criminal activity that comes along with the masses, with no end in sight. How sad is it to know that it is only a matter of time before someone else in our community is severely injured or worse because of the unwillingness of our leaders to protect the community that elected them?

Election time is coming up again soon. Since our leaders have decided to prevent the police, residents and businesses from creating and maintaining a safe community, we can at least evict a couple of council members that do nothing but warm chairs, eat pricey snacks and talk about the need for more taxpayer dollars to support the criminal element that lines our streets, doorways and business locations. In the meantime, walk quickly, carry a big stick and watch your back if you are near the Promenade, a library or anywhere in Santa Monica. If you are assaulted, please file a police report.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 3, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/040306.pdf?ref=smdp.com)