Editor:

On May 2, 1996, some cowardly slime broke the driver's side window of my daughter's six-year-old car and stole part of her radio and her entire front grill. She called the Tucson Police Department for help and they told her that they refuse to respond to crimes of this nature unless the victim knows who committed the crime. This happened while she was working to help defray the expenses of college.

I tried in vain to speak to your chief of police, Doug Smith. I simply wanted to know if it was, in fact, the TPD's policy to leave citizens/victims in the lurch. You see, we live on the Atlantic Coast and our daughter attends the UA. It makes a parent a bit uneasy to know their daughter cannot count on the police in a time of need. I called your Mayor (George) Miller to get his help. He said the chief was in his office and would return my call immediately. It has been 20 days, and I still have not heard from your chief.

We have paid out-of-state tuition for two kids to go to school at the UA starting in 1989 (one graduated, one to go), and we feel we have a right to know why the police refuse to follow up on this burglary. A "campus cop" told my daughter that the TPD was known for being lazy in matters of this sort.

This morning (May 22, 1996), our daughter called to tell us that someone had just stolen her front headlight. This was in a public parking lot in the city of Tucson, next to her work. She said, "What do I do?" I, as her father, do not have the answer. Obv iously a mere figurehead, the mayor can't help. He can't even get his chief of police to call me. I don't know what to tell her. Her car is literally being taken apart while she works. It would be cheaper for her to stay at home!

It seems three groups are benefiting from the stripping of my daughter's car. The crooks who are getting away with the goods, the insurance company that doesn't have to pay because of the deductible, and the cops who get paid for doing nothing. It is very hard for me to distinguish between the three. I am embarrassed for all citizens of Tucson. You deserve better. My daughter deserves better.

Bill Beall
Lewes Beach, Del.