Special Tax for More Police

An effort has been made to obtain better police protection in the South-Central area of our city, but there seems to be some sort of ruling that local property owners must foot the entire bill. Being very costly, the residents have resisted this as too great a burden--and who can blame them?

It is not a community of outstanding affluence. Yet, it is an integral section of our wonderful city and every resident has a stake in our mutual ownership.

There may be a certain well-meant psychology in the insistence that local communities pay for special advantages--paving, lighting, sewers, etc. But crime control is a far more serious matter. Without it, a malevolent influence can threaten us all.

Therefore, I suggest that all property owners in Los Angeles, as sympathetic neighbors, should share a portion of the extra taxation. Possibly the local community could still pay a somewhat higher percentage than those in the outlying districts. This would satisfy the standards of those who so staunchly uphold the “psychology of local responsibility.”

LEW AYRES

Los Angeles