Margaret Mitchell

Re “FBI to Probe Homeless Woman’s Slaying,” May 25: The story on the shooting of Margaret Laverne Mitchell misses one important point. The blame and the shame fall squarely on the state of California. Only a few years ago she would not have been homeless. She would have been in a state institution for the mentally ill. What has happened to the soul of California that a person such as she must fend for herself on the city’s streets?

MERRILL SMITH

Claremont

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The treatment of Mitchell was critically flawed even before it escalated to homicide. If the bike officer was new to our neighborhood (I saw Ms. Mitchell daily when I walked my dog), why didn’t he stop and say hello to her, or see if she needed anything, or tactfully try to gauge her mental status?

Instead, the officers hassled her about her shopping cart. What if it was stolen? Were they going to take it away from her? Were they going to humiliate her and dump her things out on the curb and take the cart back to its rightful owner? All of the talk about LAPD reform and community policing has been just that--talk.

ERIC COOK

Los Angeles

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How quickly we condemn the police officer. Thousands of incidents happen each day in a city our size that could go either way, depending not only on the police but on the victim’s or suspect’s actions. It is so easy to say what you would do if a woman is coming at you screaming, “I’ll kill you,” holding a lethal weapon. Only the Lone Ranger can shoot the gun out of the hand of the perpetrator.

A quick decision, a judgment call, then an action to live with.

IRA KAPLAN

Woodland Hills

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Let’s see now, where should I start: Eulia Love, Tyisha Miller and now Mitchell, just to name a few. My question is why is it that African American citizens are never shot and killed by African American policemen? On the other hand, isn’t it troubling that African American citizens always seem to be shot and killed by non-African American policemen?

Whether it’s for a shopping cart or sleeping in their own parked car, Southern California police agencies’ non-African American employees have a tendency to be trigger-happy when African Americans are involved. May those citizens rest in peace.

JEFFREY L. WALKER

Los Angeles

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I was outraged at the fatal shooting of the homeless woman last Friday. Nobody will ever be able to convince me that two young officers could not have handled the situation without having to use deadly force. If that is typical of LAPD policy, then the policy needs to be revamped.

ANTHONY MORRIS

Los Angeles