A search of LAT archives reveals that, as a result of 11 flashlight blows from the LAPD and three punches to the face from Inglewood, over the last 23 months, Mr. Lopez has written four howling columns castigating the cops. Notably, both incidents were under less than clear circumstances.

However, the five killings of LA County cops since last August, including four murders - one a blatant execution - have resulted in not one word of mourning.

If gentlemen like Mr. Lopez are the conscience of the community, we are in sad shape indeed.

Just to underscore the liberal pathology we call Keith, we notice that he's quick to qualify "Dunphy" as a conservative dose, but his reference never refers to the LAtimes writers as a Liberal dose.

Even that screeching Iraqi war rant from the liberal pundit Kingsley does not receive the proper political qualification from Keith.

Makes a body wonder why.

Mr. Parry rather undermines his own point by providing context. If Steve Lopez writes 3 columns a week, and takes two weeks off per year, that means he's written 288 columns in 23 months. Four of those work out to roughly 1.39% of his columns being about the police scandals mentioned.

Clearly Lopez is OBSESSED.

Who said obsessed? All I said was that he seems to care a lot more about a few bumps a bruises on scofflaws than he does five dead public servants.

Okay, lets face it. Cops get killed in the line of duty. It sucks.. sorry. But does that mean that they get a free pass to beat down anyone they want? Or that someone shouldn't cover it when we see yet another black person getting their ass whooped by an LAPD officer.

Thanks to the history of the police here in the last 20 years in Los Angeles, this event has been magnified because we are all watching to see how a new chief reacts to an issue of great importance. To use this as an opportuninty to slander the LA Times or one writer in particular is an obvious reflection of your inability to look at an issue beyond your own point of view.

This is not an issue of 'race relations' here in LA as the media would have you believe. Its an issue of power hungry cops who think that just because they put on a badge they can do whatever they want. The media makes it seem like brown/black people are the only ones getting beat down by the LAPD when the truth is that its EVERYONE.

I appreciate the good work that most of our police officers do here in this city, but in public service, perception is reality. No matter how many good things you do for people, no matter how many great cops you have who do their jobs, you will continue to be judged by events like this and your reaction to them.

Its a fact of public life. Get over it.

Bacon-

Let me get this straight, we are supposed to accept cold blooded murder as a fact of life, but not overzealousness that results in a few broken bones?

There are bad cops, I know. I've seen 'em first hand. That doesn't mean this cop was one of them. It doesn't mean that in his heart he was anything but truly scared and truly trying to defend his partners because he thought the thief had a gun.

Unfortunately, Steve Lopez thinks he can read a mind from a fuzzy, long range video tape, and he wants a man jailed - possibly for trying to defend himself.

And if his going to jail scares another cop into not raising his flashlight, that cop may die.

And apparently neither you, nor Steve Lopez will care, as long as the likes of Mr. Miller go to jail unscathed.

So, I refuse to get over it.

I was transfixed by Lopez' exquisite analysis of the facts in the flashlight case. And by his conclusions which he doubt based on years of experience watching police chase criminal suspects on TV. The next time I need a cop I'll restrain myself and ring for Lopez and his typewriter instead.

Cops accept the risk of death as a part of their lives. Why can't you?

However, I will not accept the inevitabilty of getting my ass kicked by someone who is supposed to 'protect' me when they pull me over for speeding. Its a big difference.

Well, inasmuch as your logic is, "if you want to be a cop, accept that you might die".... Why can't you accept: "if you want to be a car thief, accept that you might get a few bruises." Is that really so hard to understand?

And, you're right, there's a big difference between a bullet in the head and a bruise on your arm.

PS... My part time job is that of an Air Assault infantryman. My comrades and I fully accept death as part of a job. It doesn't make it OK to ignore a soldier's sacrfice.

We honor the sacrafice for these guys who die in the line of duty enough. What do you want for them anyway? A mausoleum? What is not being done that you want done? I don't understand what it is their 'missing' out on. So what if this Lopez guy doesnt write an eight page article about about every cop who dies. Its not as interesting a news story as a suspect getting beaten down on camera. Its just not. Face it, thats what this is about. Newspapers don't write about what is merit-worthy, they write about what is news-worthy.

Thats why its called a news-paper and not a merit-paper.

They are missing out on respect and understanding while they are still alive. They are denied the basic right of a presumption of innocence before being pronounced guilty. Their basic right to self defense is questioned and limited.

Their lives are marginalized by people like you. If I told you that use of force by cops was up 600% over the last three years compared to the last 10, I am sure you and your ilk would be enraged, and presume it was largely excessive. Mr. Lopez would undoubtedly write a lengthy, scathing column or two.

But, if I tell you deaths during suspect confrontations of Sheriff's deputies are up 600% over the same period, you would not care. In fact, that is a very real statistic. And, nobody really cares. We know this because folks like you are marching in the streets to ensure that it is even harder for cops to protect themselves.

It is my steadfast belief that even if Mr. Miller really did have a gun, the usual suspects would still be bent out of shape. And if he had shot officer Hatfield on live TV, you and your ilk would have already forgotten him.

Again, I offer my challenge to prove me wrong: Without searching, name the LAPD Officer who was murdered this year, how it happened, and what the response of the Najee Ali crowd was.

Its pretty hard to assume someone is innocent when the camera watches them do something that even their own chief calls 'disturbing'. Do you presume Scott Peterson and OJ are innocent?

Throwing a %increase at me does nothing to prove your point. Overall, in the last 10 years are they up? What factors could contribute to this? Are some high crime areas now patrolled by Sheriffs that were not before? Statistics need to be framed in context to be effective. I'd also like to point out that its only been in the last 10 years that people really gave a damn about police butality, so yes.. they are paying for the sins of their predecesors. It still does not give cops carte blanche to do whatever they want whenever they want as you would have them do.

This is your attack on a reporter, Mr. Lopez, whose job is to report the news. I will continue to argue that the increase is not as newsworthy as watching a suspect get beaten down, especially given the past incedents in the city.

Dunphy is a good argument for anonymity. It's hard to imagine an LAPD officer in his position speaking his mind about this controversy, honestly and publicly, using his real name. No matter what he said, he would live in fear of possible repercussions from the brass.

Bacon-

Call me odd, but I judge these things on the evidence and their merits. I thought Peterson guilty, based on reports of the evidence. Now that the trial has gone sideways, largely due to police and prosecutor incompetence, I am not so sure. As for OJ, I held out hope for his innocence until the evidence, especially the DNA, became overwhelming.

In this case, well, it seems to me that everyone has fogotten that cops do, indeed have a right to use force. Therefore, there needs to be evidence that the officer had no reason to use force. That evidence is hidden on the tape by the other officers. I am sure other bits and peices of forensics and interviews and re-enactments will establish the truth. However, that tape is not prima facia evidence of wrong doing.

The fact remains, however, that you consider a suspect's violence and resistence no justification for cops to get even a little bit carried away. Yet, a little violence from the police is justification to excuse their murders of public servants.

You have a twisted paradigm indeed.

When did I ever say that it was an excuse for people to be violent in anything I've written so far? Your putting words in my mouth now. My belief is that violence against anyone is wrong. Of course we live in a society where we can't live by that ethos.

Again, I just don't want to get my ass kicked when I get pulled over by the cops. Thats all I am asking for. I am a law abiding citizen, and I don't think its right that everytime a cop drives behind me, or pulls me over that my heart begins to race because I'm not sure if this guy is a 'Mark Furman'. The fact remains that if the LAPD would stop hiring power-hungry, incompetent, racist jerks (I know all of them aren't like this, but we sure do seem to find out about a lot of them don't we?) we would not have this problem.

Bacon wrote: "so yes.. they are paying for the sins of their predecesors."

Sounds to me like you find it to be at least a justification. 11 smacks with a flashlight is worth ignoring five murders in your math. That's some justice.