Letter to the Editor:
This is from my latest visit to the 7-11 at 600 North Glenoaks.
First, aggressive panhandling of apparently seriously intoxicated person at the 7-11.
After exiting the store, he was passed out at the side of the 7-11 building.
A mother and her small child were frequenting the store and in my opinion were afraid of the experience of dealing with this drunk, smelly person.
Piano stores are not the solution. The city just bought one with the apparent plan to make the very nice building into a shelter. The City has not provided proof of concept that they, themselves, have a solution to meth, heroin and alcohol addiction which are the cause of most homeless cases in the region.
Having 10 officers babysitting Council’s pretty chain link fence TODAY is not a solution. Yes that was occurring by Tinhorn Flats yet again.
We have real crimes in the City and if we do not want it to look like LA, Burbank needs to end Police puppy protection programs and stop ordering our police to babysit the fence. It’s very hot outside and it cannot be good for morale to have ten police officers sweating bullets and baking in the hot sun anyway. With a <3 minute response time, why not give eight of these officers a break and let them use an AC cooled vehicle to patrol for crimes on the street. More patrols will mean fewer crimes.
After exiting the store, he was passed out at the side of the 7-11 building.
A mother and her small child were frequenting the store and in my opinion were afraid of the experience of dealing with this drunk, smelly person.
Piano stores are not the solution. The city just bought one with the apparent plan to make the very nice building into a shelter. The City has not provided proof of concept that they, themselves, have a solution to meth, heroin and alcohol addiction which are the cause of most homeless cases in the region.
Having 10 officers babysitting Council’s pretty chain link fence TODAY is not a solution. Yes that was occurring by Tinhorn Flats yet again.
We have real crimes in the City and if we do not want it to look like LA, Burbank needs to end Police puppy protection programs and stop ordering our police to babysit the fence. It’s very hot outside and it cannot be good for morale to have ten police officers sweating bullets and baking in the hot sun anyway. With a <3 minute response time, why not give eight of these officers a break and let them use an AC cooled vehicle to patrol for crimes on the street. More patrols will mean fewer crimes.
I love puppies. Yes indeed I love puppies however the City expends more than $1.8 million so that we can have our own shelter managed by the police. Turn it over to the Volunteers of the Burbank Animal Shelter and sell them the building, I say. Their nonprofit generates a lot of money from donations and they could easily expand that into a full-time shelter managed program.
Dealing with drunks isn’t fun either but is actually a more productive use of police resources. Many persons in LA County are injured each year by addicts and alcoholics.
One of the biggest drivers of property crime in Burbank is the proliferation of meth addicts.
So instead of babysitting the fence, the Burbank PD can focus on dealing with crime prevention and solving crimes.
And babysitting the fence is not the officers’ idea, it’s that of the electeds and the City Attorney.
Nothing but unsubstantiated anecdote and narrow-minded opinion based on fear and ignorance. Something tells me BPD has far better, and confirmed, stats on crime than a known opinionated right-wing propagandist.
Tell us the actual stats on local crime before placing assumed guilt.
Tell us about the conversation you had the the folks onto whom you projected your fear of the smelly man, and why his being smelly is such an affront to you rather than taking it upon yourself to call the police on their behalf.
Tell us how much the animal shelter volunteers receive other than “a lot” and how that would be different from “defunding” the police.
Every letter to the editor you write presents a problem yet never once do you include thoughtful or even legitimate solutions. You say to put cops back in cars with AC rather than deal with the *actual* problem of THF and the out of town hate and bigotry committee it now draws every weekend. You blame the city council for doing their jobs, yet never once the grifter who wallows in the attention given his hate-fest saloon he’s driven into the ground.
What rock do you cower under while demanding change that never addresses the actual problems you whine about?
I couldn’t have said it better, Kaffe.
Mr. Spencer needs to bloviate less and seek solutions that are less political and much more based in reality. Our police department and city council are doing the best they can with the funds they have, and must I remind Mr. Spencer, we’re still enduring a pandemic. Things aren’t as we want them to be. They are different and we must adapt.
Mr. Spencer, kindly refrain from using this website as a bully pulpit.
Kaffe and Proud Burbank Resident,
Is there a reason you don’t use your real names like I do when sharing your ad hominem attacks on me?
I am curious…
I welcome you to step into the light. I am here as I have been for 30 years putting my money where my mouth is every day. I have raised $2.5 million to assist people in need.
To my fellow Burbankers, don’t be afraid to speak up, these anonymous responses will keep coming from people who won’t tell you who they really are or where they actually live.
A City in the red cannot post ten police officers at one business week after week, spending seven figures to deal with something the LA County should be handling, exclusively (that’s why we pay high taxes to them…)
As for the drunks and addicts, no one forced anyone to hit the bottle and insert the needle, but we cannot have Burbankers afraid to walk in their own city for fear of attack.
And if you have something to say, I invite you to do so with your real name as I do.
Mr. Spencer,
If I choose to use a pseudonym, that’s my business, not yours. It affects little as I write my responses to your frequently misguided and outrageous diatribes.
I don’t care how much money you’re raised for charity, or what good you think you’ve accomplished in the past. All I care about, sir, is what your words mean and what you stand for at this moment in time.
Your criticisms of our police and their fiscal accountability, while, perhaps, well-meaning, aren’t helpful in any way. You’re merely venting and not showing a real understanding of the problems we’re currently facing, or, really, how to solve them.
It appears to me, that you love to see your name and your opinions in print. If this is the case, why not submit your letters to the Los Angeles Times? Wouldn’t you reach a broader audience? Or, perhaps, they won’t print them?
Mr. Spencer, knowing my real name won’t change how you engage with me, or the readers of your letters and comments. And, quite honestly, at this moment in history, it’s not safe to do so. Your response to my comment makes this quite clear.
Proud Burbank Resident:
Saying “[y]our response to my comment makes this quite clear” is that your way of suggesting my knowing your real name puts you in danger with me? I invite you to clarify. I call that a “hit and run” statement. Like an arsonist who is also a fire[wo]man. I do not believe that your reason for remaining anonymous is a genuine concern for your safety. Burbank Police have a LESS than three minute response time from the moment you call them. I have confirmed that MyBurbank requires proof of residency to post here, so it is clear you are a resident and benefit from the same three minute or less police response we all do. I would imagine we both live in one of the safest cities in LA County.
I invite you to step into the light. You took the time to reply to this letter, and I encourage you to be known.
Editor’s Note: Only “Letters to the Editor” that are published are vetted for residency, not comments
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