Letters From OC Weekly Readers

‘Excellent Job Taking Down Carona, Haidl and Jaramillo. Who Is Next?’

PROFILING PRAYER
Religious profiling of any faith group is unacceptable—and this story helps to show that it’s useless as well [Nick Schou’s “Who Was that Mosqued Man?” May 1].

This is an extraordinary article, presenting a complex situation in a clear manner. Kudos to Schou for writing such a comprehensive piece—he clearly did his research.

Amina, via ocweekly.com

Working criminal cases is a difficult and thankless job at best. Most law-enforcement people do not have the appearance or cultural background to handle many complex investigations. With this in mind, if you want to discover and prosecute drug dealers, you look where they hang out and use informants who live in that environment. The same applies to gangs, corrupt politicians, white-collar crime and, yes, even terrorism. There is no racial, ethnic or gender profiling—just good, old-fashioned investigative work.

From a foreign-terrorist approach, the vast majority of attacks both at home and abroad have been by radical Islamic groups. When tasked with locating and disabling latent terrorist cells in the United States—and they do exist—the FBI doesn’t look at the Elks Club, American Legion or the YMCA. Rarely, if ever, are random investigations conducted of a Muslim mosque without specific information to indicate that suspicious activity is happening there. In the investigation in question, the informant was a person of questionable character, but not atypical of the types of people used. The challenge in such a case is for the law-enforcement agent to closely monitor, supervise and direct the actions of the informant. Since the FBI is a highly professional and competent organization, I am confident the informant was supervised properly. It is interesting to note that enough information was obtained for the U.S. Attorney to get an indictment. Of course, a common tactic of all criminal defendants is to allege entrapment, false evidence, or, in this case, religious profiling. I strongly suggest that people avoid a rush to judgment and let this unfold in court. A jury will then decide if the FBI did its job, whether the informant is credible and if the person arrested is guilty of a crime. Let’s give the system a chance.

Lieutenant Par, Irvine, via ocweekly.com

LUXURIOUS LOMPOC
I wish in Lompoc, the country club of prisons, Mike Carona would have to focus on survival, but he’ll end up with white-collar criminals who will treat him well [R. Scott Moxley’s “Judging Mikey,” May 1]. There are two federal prisons at Lompoc. He won’t be going to the “big house”; he’ll be classified as light-risk.

The camp will definitely take away some of his freedom, but he will be allowed outdoors, frequent visits, etc. Perhaps some of the bank-fraud cooks he will be bunking with will teach him how to hide his money better.

Know Em All, via ocweekly.com

Excellent job taking down Carona, Haidl and Jaramillo. Who is next?

Todd B., Costa Mesa, via ocweekly.com

PRIUS PRISSIES
I have owned a Prius since January 2007. I have driven close to 32,000 miles and get regular maintenance, and I have never experienced the kind of problems your story [Paul Knight’s “Devil Inside,” April 24] describes. And no, I’m not a snobby environmentalist; frankly, I think global warming is rubbish. I’m a political conservative who bought a Prius because I want to save money on gas.

I wish Knight had asked the people he interviewed whether they had their cars serviced at the recommended mileage intervals, or whether their problems occurred at roughly the same odometer reading or at different readings. In the first case, lack of proper service might be a factor. In the second, knowing that these problems occurred at consistent odometer readings would help all Prius owners anticipate such problems.

Nevertheless, the idea that Toyota does not seem to want to confront these potential problems is beyond disturbing. Does Toyota have to be on the business end of a wrongful-death suit before it seriously investigates these complaints?

As far as electric cars go, Doug Korthof should stop snorting the cheap cocaine of whacked-out conspiracy theories. Electric cars will never work unless they can go long distances without constant recharging. With the traffic we face, electric cars aren’t viable in Southern California.

Joseph D’Hippolito, Fullerton, via e-mail

COSTLY KETCHUP
Some time ago, Huntington Beach officers shot 17 bullets into an emotionally disturbed teen girl and were exonerated by the OC district attorney’s office. But Steve Rocco, a seemingly disturbed, former school-board member, is charged with stealing a half-full ketchup bottle [Nick Schou’s “Steal This Ketchup,” April 3] and prosecuted by the DA to the loony tune of $50,000. Perhaps this case will go to a higher court, where this insanity can be stopped and true obscenity defined.

John R. Townsend, Westminster, via e-mail

Letters may be edited for clarity and length. E-mail to letters@ocweekly.com, or mail to Letters to the Editor, c/oOC Weekly, 2975 Red Hill Ave., Ste. 150, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Or fax to (714) 550-5908.