Letters to the Editor: Why a 'CAREN' bill on false police reports would make people of color safer
To the editor: I read Erika D. Smith's column article about Assembly Bill 1550, which would allow people to sue when the police are unnecessarily called on them, with great interest. I see AB 1550 as creating a useful tool for the victims of false police reports.
Law enforcement does not vigorously prosecute people who make false and racially motivated police reports. In addition, some police departments have demonstrated antipathy toward people of color.
As a private citizen and a person of color, I would much rather have this option available than relying solely on the discretion of police and district attorneys on whether to prosecute someone who files a false police report.
Of course, I would prefer never to have to use AB 1550, but its availability could deter people from wrongly calling the police on others.
James Mundy, Inglewood
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To the editor: When being a "Karen" meant complaining to the manager, I sighed and rolled my eyes. When it became synonymous with rude women in parks who were recorded and posted to the internet, I was concerned.
When it became a daily, go-to smear for any unsavory behavior up to and including the cause of death for the innocent at the hands of law enforcement, I became alarmed.
Now that there is a proposal before the state Legislature to pass a "CAREN" bill, I have lost hope of ever getting my name back in my lifetime.
If journalists cannot see the misogyny in attacking women — while ignoring men — with the hijacked name "Karen," then you are complicit in perpetuating pejorative, hateful slurs.
Karen Martin, Mission Hills
