Opinion: The Most Wanted List Gets West Coast Flava

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The FBI is reserving a slot on its Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list exclusively for Los Angeles gangbangers.

What a coup for LAPD and Chief William J. Bratton. It’s not every police chief who can score a permanent set-aside for his city’s criminals on the premier most wanted list.

The only glitch is that the list is already full.

So is the FBI it going to oust an internationally recognized criminal to make room for a local homie? Yank off Osama Bin Laden and swap in “Little Spooky” or “Big Creepie”?

On rare occasions there have been 11 names on the top ten list; James Earl Ray was added after he became a suspect in the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. So maybe the bureau can just ignore numerical inconsistencies if they pop up again.

And here’s another nagging question: If the slot is always to be filled by an L.A. gang banger, how can we be certain the position is really deserved? Is that slot a goal? An entitlement? Affirmative Action? Where is Ward Connerly?

Of course, given that we’re talking about gang shootings and murders in the acknowledged gang capital of the United States, whoever LAPD suggests the feds place on the list is probably overqualified for the position.

And actually, removing Osama Bin Laden might not be a bad idea. On it’s web site about the list, www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/tenfaq.htm the FBI says fugitives are placed there with the hope that national publicity can help apprehend them. This is going out on a limb but it has to be said: publicity has done all it can do in this case.

Bratton’s decision to put a spotlight on gangbangers by placing them on the list (and thereby also attracting the television cameras of America’s Most Wanted) is certainly unorthodox, but it makes sense.

Criminals on the most wanted list almost always are caught. As of October 2006, 484 fugitives had been placed on the list with all but 29 being captured. LAPD already has sent the name of the city’s most wanted gangbanger to the feds, so stay tuned.