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# Police presence needed from above
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/police-presence-needed-from-above-editor/
- Published: 2002-04-24T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:15:08.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Pico, #archive-import

*By Unselfishly supportive of the police, D. Leone Santa Monica*

In re: a letter to the editor written by Santa Monica citizen Hank Rosenfeld (“Operation Something,” Santa Monica Daily Press, Monday, April 15, 2002, Volume 1, Issue 132, page 4). I direct this to Mr. Rosenfeld: Have you ever been the victim of a crime and said, “Where the hell were the police.” Maybe you don’t live in the Pico neighborhood and by the tone of your scornful “I’m under siege by the police” tone, I assume you don’t. Well, night after night the good citizens of the Pico neighborhood don’t have time to concern themselves about your neighborhood’s stolen potted plants because they are too busy wondering if the next exchange of gunfire by rival gangs will result in them or their children not waking up in the morning. So with Mr. Rosenfeld’s permission, instead of the SMPD helicopter patrolling the Pico neighborhood, we will ask that the brave police officers working in HIS neighborhood take its place. Then maybe he will show his understanding of the SMPD’s use of a modern effective tool to apprehend and prevent criminals from preying on innocent people, by not calling it “Operation Police State.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 24, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/042402.pdf?ref=smdp.com)