By Lori Emerson Santa Monica
To substantiate the points made in Jenna Linneken’s column (SMDP, 6/29/06, page 4), I would like to share one of my family’s many recent experiences with the ever growing vagrant population that our city leaders insist on keeping here.
On June 27, at about 5 p.m., I took my teenage daughter to Save-On (now CVS) on Lincoln and Santa Monica boulevards. I let her go into the store by herself, while I waited in the car. She walked out of the store stuffing her change in her pocket and was accosted by a ranting,cursing woman,screaming“give me that money.I am pregnant.Give it to me right now.”My daughter ran away from her, and ran back to the car, terrified.
As I drove out of the parking lot (looking for a security guard), the woman was already busy victimizing the next two customers that came out of the store. This abusive, obviously drunk (although pregnant) woman was accompanied by the gang of intoxicated thugs that live in the parking lot of that store. For more than three years, the same crew of derelicts have resided there, camping illegally, trashing the property, mugging teenagers and strong arming customers for hand-outs.
Jenna writes about saving the future of our special community and “blazing a path to reclamation.” It is, as Jenna says, a “monstrous mission.” If you live in this city, a simple trip to the pharmacy has become a terrifying, dangerous and life-threatening outing. Clearly, pleas and public outcry for basic public safety fall on deaf ears. The only way to reclaim our community is to enforce a zero-tolerance policy for the law-breaking bums that squat here.
Let’s start small at making our community safer for everyone. I challenge the owners of Save-On/CVS to clear their property of the criminals that constantly harass and assault customers. I challenge the SMPD to patrol, observe, arrest and remove those same criminals that make it impossible for me or my family to buy shampoo and survive the experience unscathed. In return for the cleaning and clearing out of the resident felons living at Save-On/CVS, I will return to the store and be a regular customer again. I might even bring a friend.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 3, 2006. Read the original PDF.