Daryl Gates

Re 18th Street gang series, Nov. 17-19: Your Nov. 18 article showing gangbangers in all their foul-mouthed tattooed glory concludes with an L.A. Unified School District policeman stating, "Now you have to get along with 18th Street." I say no! We do not have to "get along" with murderers, dope pushers, muggers and vandals. What we must do is get angry enough to stop the hand-wringing and get down to the business of exterminating these hopeless vermin. We seemingly have no problem allocating some $200 billion for advanced fighter jets to police the far corners of the globe.

It is the nation's most popular drug-education program, offered in at least 60% of school districts nationwide, reaching 25 million youngsters here and in 41 other countries. It is a program that has drawn praise for its efforts to bring uniformed police officers into the classroom to promote self-esteem and clean living. Even Chelsea Clinton is a graduate. But you don't DARE in Spokane.

Re "Enough Meddling by the Clowns," by Daryl Gates, Commentary, June 7: Clowns indeed! I see my old boss, Daryl Gates, has again seized upon the opportunity to display his lack of knowledge of what actually happened within the LAPD under his stewardship, his lack of understanding of how his brand of leadership contributed to a steady decline in organizational effectiveness for most of his tenure as chief and his terrible recall of related historical events....

This time Daryl Gates really is going to quit when he says he is. Friday marks the final broadcast of his nightly talk show on KFI-AM, and while leaving the airwaves was not as tough for the controversial retired police chief as leaving the LAPD's top spot, Gates says departing the station that has employed him for the last 15 months is bittersweet. "I have real mixed emotions, to tell you the truth," Gates said Wednesday in a telephone interview.

In the gathering twilight of the Los Angeles riots and the volatile trials that bracketed them, two fallen soldiers of the Los Angeles Police Department are waging one final battle over the most pivotal moment in the mayhem that engulfed the city last year. On one side is former LAPD Lt. Michael Moulin, who was in charge of a group of officers at the intersection of Florence and Normandie avenues on April 29, 1992. On the other is the man who headed the LAPD for 13 years, former Chief Daryl F.