Thursday, September 30, 1999 - The "LAPD Must Drop CRASH in Order to Regain Public's Trust," Commentary, Sept. 27: Hybrid police teams such as the ineptly named CRASH (Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums) carry out specialized preventive and investigative assignments that cannot be adequately performed by others. Regular patrol units are always on or subject to call. They do not have the time to search for (and carefully debrief) witnesses and suspects of past or anticipated crimes and are not properly organized, trained or equipped to conduct surveillance.
     As recent letters to The Times suggest, residents of the affected areas recognize that doing away with CRASH will chip away at the ability of police to respond to offending in a way that goes beyond the passive "drive by and wave" techniques that Gregory Boyle apparently prefers. Well-intentioned persons such as Father Boyle and former Assistant Chief David Dotson (Opinion, Sept. 26) can help by abandoning the rhetoric and encouraging the LAPD to enhance the oversight and correct the practices of its specialized units without rendering them ineffectual.
     JAY WACHTEL PhD
     Division of Political Science and Criminal Justice
     Cal State Fullerton
* * *     Funny; I have a job, I don't hang out on the streets, I don't sell drugs, I don't terrorize people and claim the neighborhood that I happen to live in is my "turf," and I've never been unconscious in a car with a firearm. And the couple of times I've dealt with police, I was cooperative and didn't give them a hard time, because I know how difficult and stressful their job is. Not once have I ever been shot or harassed by them. And I am black.
     JUSTIN WATERS
     Los Angeles
* * *     Re the LAPD Rampart Division: It's simple--ban the code of silence. Reward the whistle-blowers! Praise the other 99.9%.
     BETTE J. TURNER
     Huntington Beach