POLICE'S JOB TO CURB CRIME, NOT ENABLE IT

Because they deal with almost every possible emergency and danger, police
officers' jobs can be incredibly complex.

At the core, though, their ultimate goal is quite simple: Keep our streets
safe from criminals and the tools of crime.

And this is why Coast residents should be alarmed at the ease with which 27
guns, $30 and 11 ounces of marijuana were taken from the Long Beach Police
Department in late June. The guns, money and drugs - evidence in three
felony cases - were stolen while the building's roof was being repaired.

Actually, it's a surprise more was not stolen. Walls had been torn down.
Ladders offered access to the roof. Construction crews, station employees
and even inmates were come and going. The evidence locker was ripe for
thievery.

Prosecutors say the trials can continue without the evidence. That's a small
consolation. But it is no consolation at all that the police didn't have the
foresight to secure the evidence while the roof was being repaired.