Keep It Real.

I'm tired of seeing cops handing out citations at every train stop. I see the type of people receiving them; they are ALL lower and middle class and even HOMELESS. Some may argue that it's just $1.25 for the metro pass but on the real, that $1.25 is a cool gallon of milk, bag of bread, or a cheeseburger. Or maybe that $1.25 has to go to getting onto the next one or two buses that these people need to get on in order to get to work.

It angers me to see an older Hispanic woman holding three kids standing in front of a cop who's getting her information for the citation. She doesn't even speak Spanish.
It angers me to see an unfortunate homeless man explaining to the cop that he's HOMELESS and there's no point in giving him a $250 ticket. He doesn't even have a home.

So the cop writes the ticket in full understanding that the person couldn't pay for the pass, so they make them pay a $250 ticket which they can never afford to pay which will soon double and then and they issue a warrant out and there's court fees and shit...

All this because the LAPD needs to meet their fucking quota on citations for the month. What's the other reasoning? 3 police officers at each stop that I pass (Norwalk, Lakewood, Long Beach, Wilmington) means 12 cops that could be out in the streets on some gang/drug patrol. There are more than 10 other stops on the Green line only. How about the Blue line? I'd be happier if all these cops were in the streets writing speeding tickets or something, just SERVING AND PROTECTING us instead of trapping us.

They don't understand...
A dollar twenty five can me alive.
Constantly harass me because I can't afford the transportation fee.
I can barely provide my family with groceries and it's a harsh reality.
"My stop is right here, can you please let me go?"
And the cop just laughs and says "no".
I was saving my scraps of dough to make my car start.
Now I have no choice but to pay the fine and save the heart of mine.