Letters to the Editor: Is there a big difference between actual crime and reported crime?

To the editor: As a longtime member of the Pacific Community Police Advisory Board, I listen to crime statistics at monthly meetings. I have commented that reported stats are significantly understated because lots of crimes are not reported. (“New LAPD chief says people aren’t calling the police enough — and that needs to change,” Nov. 14)

Whenever a neighbor complains about a recent crime incident, I ask if they reported it. More often than not, they say, “No, because it takes so long.”

As such, reported crime might be a fraction of actual crime.

Steve Freedman, Venice

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To the editor: How can Jim McDonnell, the new chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, focus on reporting of crimes without a single mention of what really plagues the department?

To wit — a culture so far removed from public service, so riddled with cliques and so failed that after 20 years of trying to implement an effective disciplinary process, we are no closer to public accountability.

Larry Lang, Fullerton