We have a wish list for 1996. Its potential for reality is diminished only by the frailties in the resolve of all of us in Southern California. This can be the year, for example, in which Angelenos realize that we really do get only what we pay for in terms of a criminal justice system.

Los Angeles has a crime lab that has become an embarrassment; courts so crowded and confused that they may have allowed a suspected serial killer to slip through the cracks; a jail system so poorly run that it allowed two suspected killers to get out of confinement, and then out of the country; old and overcrowded police stations, too little new equipment and too few officers. Cute blue ribbons worn in support of the police won't do it. Loosening governmental and personal purse strings will.

We also hope that the city and the county finally will root out those in law enforcement who are not up to the job. They make life unfairly tough for the good officers and law-abiding residents.

A FEW WORDS FOR THE MAYOR: We want Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and his staff to appreciate that the mayor can't accomplish much in this city without the broad support of the City Council. So better communication is required. We'd also like Riordan to pay more than lip service to a strong and independent city Ethics Commission.

We want the City Council to realize that to keep doing things the same old way just because it's easier is no substitute for leadership. We want to see Councilwomen Jackie Goldberg, Ruth Galanter, Laura Chick and Rita Walters, and all city councilmen of goodwill toward women, push for serious ethical oversight that will discourage, shame and punish top city officials who harass women. We want Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas and Rep. Maxine Waters to end their petty political squabble and start working together again on behalf of their constituents.

We'd like a much better year from Police Chief Willie L. Williams.

We'd like a Los Angeles Unified School District that meets the needs of all students.

We'd like a mass transit system that actually takes people where they want to go.

And the next time something violent happens to a Southern California child, we want to see everyone in the region's leadership raise a ruckus. Base the reaction on the fact that a child has been hurt--not on which side of the freeway the child lives, what color the child is, whether the parents are high school dropouts or lawyers.