Playing Politics With Crime
Most Americans worry about crime, but in California the issue carries unusual emotional weight. In such a large state, political campaigns have to rely heavily on television ads-and crime is an issue that easily translates into stark 30-second images of women hearing footsteps in the dark, or murdered children going unavenged. Some commentators say that Simi Valley, with its large population of police officers, was an aberration-one of the few places in the country where a jury might be sympathetic to King’s assailants....