Gordon A. Bowers
I am responding to a letter to the editor for only the second time in
my 30-plus years of police service. Both responses were to letters
ignoring the need to keep our children safe. This one also was demeaning
to the dedicated officers who take seriously their responsibility to save
young lives.
A person signing as Robert Klinger sent a letter, which you printed in
your April 5 issue with the caption "Good policing needs good judgment."
I wholly agree with your caption, but I absolutely disagree with the
author's letter impugning the judgment of these officers. In fact, I am
extremely proud of those officers and their conscientious efforts. So is
Robert T. Klinger, a good citizen of Burbank who came to my office today.
He explained that he and his wife have been Burbank residents and
supporters of our public safety departments for many years. He wanted to
completely disassociate himself from what he termed the "juvenile letter"
published by a person who shares his name, and reaffirm to his friends
that he would never say such things.
The author wrote a convoluted and acrimonious letter implied that two
officers were harassing two children and citing them for the purpose of
supporting the city budget. He describes the officers as "helmeted tax
collectors" out to "justify salaries" for the "bloated police force." He
suggests that we should lay off "people in uniforms" and that "the
biggest danger an officer of the law faces is running out of sun block."
I am certain that the families of officers who gave their lives in the
line of duty, including two in Burbank, would take exception to his
opinion. Rather than reply in kind to this vitriolic and completely
unfair attack directed at what I consider to be the best police
department in the state, I want to point out some facts the author either
didn't know or chose to ignore.
Traffic safety is a critical concern. Each year more people are
seriously injured or killed in traffic accidents in Burbank than by all
crimes combined. Bicycle and pedestrian traffic accidents are our focus.
They are the only types of traffic accidents we have been unable to
decrease over recent years.
Youth and the elderly are the most vulnerable to becoming bicycle and
pedestrian traffic accident victims, and we have developed special
educational programs for both groups. We would much prefer to correct
people's dangerous actions than to list them as a victim or fatality.
The "two little boys" described in the letter were a 13-year-old
