by TChris

Some residents of Los Angeles sent a message to the Los Angeles Police Department by voting against a proposed sales tax increase that would have funded the hiring of additional officers. The message: if you want our money, treat us with respect.

[Edward] Lindsey said he would have voted for the measure if police "were doing what they should do instead of messing with everybody." A few weeks ago, the former GM plant worker said, he was pulled over by police who told him he looked like a suspected gang member. "How the hell can I look like a gangbanger?" Lindsey said. "I'm 74 years old. I'm retired!"

Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas supported the measure, but understands that "a string of police abuse cases dating from before the 1991 Rodney King beating through this year's flashlight beating of Stanley Miller in Compton did not help the cause."

"An agenda that argues exclusively for more cops is not likely to get the response of something that calls for more prevention and more reform," he added. "I think the electorate would respond more favorably to a more holistic look at crime."