LETTERS

IT’S A CRIME

ON BEHALF of every burglar and sneak thief in the Dallas area, I would like to thank you for your feature article “Crime in North Dallas” (April) by Mary Candace Evans. Not only was there a map showing where the best pickings would be, there was a list of the tools needed and basic instructions that every beginning thief needs upon starting a life of crime. It also pointed out that burglary is lucrative and safe. It must be reassuring to know they will probably never have to pay for their crimes.

As a resident of North Dallas, I would like to say that this article is the epitome of irresponsible journalism. For obvious reasons, please withhold my name, directions to my house, an inventory of my possessions and where I keep them.

Mrs. E.L.L.

Dallas



YOUR ARTICLE, “Crime in North Dallas,” with step-by-step instructions- “How to Burglarize a Home” – showed extreme poor judgment and poor taste on your part. I am canceling my subscription and would hope others do the same.

V. Churchill

Dallas



I CAN’T agree with the statement in “Crime in North Dallas” that the police really can’t do anything. The only time I see a police car on our street is in response to a neighbor’s call after a burglary. Yet, going to and from the office on Royal Lane or Walnut Hill, I regularly see the police under shade trees or behind walls with their radar traps, apparently more intent on catching the neighbors than the burglars. Neither can I buy the “spread too thin” story that the police offer, not when three or four of them are under that shade tree at the same time.

Pretty crummy PR on the police department’s part, I’d say.

Robert F. Hickman

Dallas



I FOUND your in-depth article, “Crime in North Dallas,” very interesting. Before reading it I was not aware of how easy it is to become a thief. After reading your informative article I now consider myself an expert on the techniques of breaking and entering. The revealing statistics on the percentage of criminals convicted compared to those not apprehended or released shortly after their arrest has helped me decide on a career. Originally 1 had planned to go to college and spend hard-earned money so that 1 could make a respectable living, but now I realize that it would be a waste of time. I think I will take the slim chance you mentioned of being caught and become a full-time thief. Apparently, crime does pay.

For obvious reasons my address and phone number are not included.

Cathy Connor

North Dallas

WHAT’S GOOD for the goose is good for the gander. A. great big Thumbs Down award to D Magazine for endorsing and printing such a gross, irresponsible article, “How to Burglarize a Home.”

Professional burglars certainly do not require help or suggestions to perform their unsavory work, however, and the novice or first-time amateur shouldn’t be afforded a step-by-step schooling to help suggest, advise or whatever, to perpetrate, scheme or devise a crime such as burglarizing a home.

Perhaps Mary Candace Evans isn’t satisfied with our present standard of crime rate in this area. Well, she certainly has done her part in helping to increase the crime rate and perhaps sometime she will be able to observe firsthand just how good a job she did -that is, if her home or that of a close relative or friend’s home is sacked.

For D Magazine to permit such irresponsible journalism to be printed, I as a charter subscriber wish to cancel my subscription, as of now.

Bud Mallory

Irving

LOVE LETTER



WE COMMEND “Is Love’s Labor Lost?” on the complex issue of Dallas Love Field and its environment.

We want to clarify three points, however, pertaining to the economic discussion. First, the article makes no mention of the significant tax revenues generated from property and school taxes paid by the 100,000 residents surrounding the airport. Dallas Love Field is not paying for our schools and city services – we are paying for our schools and city services.

Second, the article failed to note that airport revenues do not contribute to the city’s general revenue funds but rather go into a separate aviation fund to maintain and expand services at the airport.

Finally, the article overlooks the much greater contribution that D/FW Regional Airport makes to the expanding economy of the North Central Texas region. Love Field is a convenience – it is no longer an airport of major economic impact.

Our vision for Dallas includes Love Field -an airport which will become compatible with its human environment. The establishment of this compatibility is the challenge which faces the city of Dallas.

Lori Palmer, Chairperson

Love Field Citizens Action Committee

Dallas



MARTIN REPLIES

AT NO TIME did I say, hint, or imply that I made a “bundle” for my announcing chores at the Super Bowl (Inside Dallas, March). I told the young lady who called that it served no purpose to name the amount. I said it was a nice “fee,” not “a nice feed,” as she wrote in her article.

Murphy Martin

Dallas

COWTOWN SHOWDOWN



HAVING GROWN UP in Fort Worth with Mike Shropshire during the Fifties, and being one of many Fort Worthians who remain intrigued by the city’s ever present “charm,” I loved “Cowtown Low-down” (March).

I laughed so hard I had to put your magazine down three times to dry my eyes before I could finish the article.

My only reservations are that too many folks on the eastern end of the turnpike might read that article and take Horace Greeley’s advice.

St. Clair Newbern III

Fort Worth