LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

[September 20th, 2006] JUDGING YOU

I think you got the wrong person for last week's Rogue. It isn't [Leslie] Roberts, Judge You is the villain. She shamelessly interpreted the law for her own benefit and set the state up for numerous retrials when a good defense attorney had her cases thrown out once she was disqualified.

I find people's ire over Leslie Roberts a bit amusing. After all, we the people of Oregon made the judgeships elected, and therefore political, positions. Roberts' move was wholly legal and ethical, and if a Republican had done the same to a Democrat, or vice versa, people would be applauding the astute maneuvering.

Damon Mabee
Oregon City

LARS LARSON, CRIMINAL CODDLER?

The most telling aspect of your bike "stealing" experiment ["Steal This Bike," Aug. 23, 2006] is that no bike was stolen. Pretending to commit a crime has a different energy to it than does a real crime being committed.

One day I saw two kids working on a bike with bolt cutters. I said, "I hope that's your bike." The reaction told me it wasn't. One kid jumped on the bike and sped away. I reported it. The boys were caught. The bike was returned to the owner. I testified in court.

In my opinion, the media's focus on telling people to be afraid is one factor in people being immobilized. In a marina where I lived a few years back, we had about 20 break-ins and thefts on boats. The media came down, reported residents were afraid. Brother! The day a boat on my dock got broken into, I saw two teenage boys I'd never seen before. It was early morning. Again, that certain energy and intuition comes into play. I got together with a neighbor who worked with adolescents as did I. We profiled the kids, looked at the patterns of the break-ins: predicted which day and which dock they'd hit next. We were right on. The boys were caught.

Lars Larson was my neighbor in the marina at that time. I tried to get him to do the real story that we weren't afraid, and we the community stopped the crime spree. Lars did not.

Margo Logan
North Jantzen Avenue

BOLD CUTTERS

As a bike commuter, I find myself wondering if your cover story on bicycle theft is responsible journalism. I understand that the point of the story was to raise the awareness of bike owners and passersby about the prevalence of theft and what we can do to stop it.

This is all well and good, but I'm concerned that this article also raises the awareness of would-be thieves. WW has demonstrated just how easy it is for a thief to get away with a broad-daylight theft, and could embolden others to commit the same crime. I'd be interested in seeing a follow-up article in upcoming weeks, exploring whether there is any notable change in theft rates after the publication of the story.

Andrea Hildebrand
Northeast Ivy Street