STOP IGNORING THREAT OF GANG VIOLENCE

Re your Wednesday editorial, "Violence": The South Florida
Sun-Sentinel has finally determined that there is gang violence in
Palm Beach County. And, lo and behold, it's in Boynton Beach.

Oh, wait, what about the rest of the county? There were 92 homicides
this year in Palm Beach County, of which 14 were teens. In the past
three years, West Palm Beach has seen at least 24 young African-
American men being shot.

What happened at the Boynton Beach Mall on Christmas Eve was a
tragedy. But to say that gang violence is out of control in Boynton
Beach is to show a narrow-sighted view of the problem. If gang
violence is out of control, it is not just in Boynton Beach. What
about the shootings throughout the rest of South Florida?

Your editorial said that it was just plain luck no one else was hurt,
not good police work. Are you serious? The Boynton Beach police
officers on the scene specifically did not return fire due to the
crowd of innocent people that could have been hurt. They rushed the
shooter, putting themselves at risk. I not only say that what they did
was good police work, but it was heroic.

Perhaps, it is the view of the Sun-Sentinel Editorial Board that it's
OK if gang violence occurs in the neighborhoods where these gang
members live. However, when it spills out into public, such as at a
major mall, then it becomes a national spectacle. Wake up and smell
the gunpowder. Maybe you would think differently if you had been at
the mall, cowering behind a trash can while the police officers put
themselves between you and a gunman. Think about that.

Charles J. Magazine,

Boynton Beach