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# Ken McCrae Santa Monica Pico people not criminals
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/ken-mccrae-santa-monica-pico-people-not-criminals-editor/
- Published: 2004-06-25T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:36:09.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Pico, #archive-import

*By Jaime S. Cruz Santa Monica*

Mr. Ries, you seem to do disservice to the Pico neighborhood residents “living at or around (the) 17th Street” vicinity, (SMDP, June 22, page 4). You criminalize the good neighbors in the area by depicting their residence as a war zone. No doubt, the area you refer to in your commentary has had its share of violence, but don’t forget that violent crime has also occurred in other sectors of the Pico neighborhood, as well as other parts of the city. Most of the people in the area that you refer to are law abiding citizens who in fact have been quite vocal throughout the years in condemning the violence in our neighborhood. Lastly, sure we can point fingers and blame individuals for not doing more to help suppress the violence in the Pico neighborhood. Interestingly, however, those same individuals often like to take the credit once the situation in the neighborhood settles down.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 25, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/062504.pdf?ref=smdp.com)